Yellow Jackets Take on Healthcare's Challenges

It pains me to write this, but Georgia Tech seems to be taking the lead when it comes to healthcare IT research and partnerships. As a UGA grad, Bulldawg fan and lover of pretty much every part of “the Classic City,” I did not (ever) anticipate lauding the accomplishments of the Atlanta neighbors we strive so valiantly every Thanksgiving to completely vanquish. But I digress.

Props must be given where they’re due, and the institute is surely deserving of recognition for its recently announced work with the Department of Veterans Affairs and, closer to home, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

The VA partnership will see Georgia Tech’s Interoperability and Integration Innovation Lab collaborating to “address interoperability issues, accelerate the development of integrated health IT solutions, test new products and help train the IT workforce needed to move the industry forward,” according to a recent report at HealthcareITNews.com.

The partnership with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta will see all six Georgia Tech colleges involved in a $20 million research initiative aimed at developing pediatric care medical technologies, and will “also focus on improving health IT systems, electronic medical records, even the delivery of care,” according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Beth Mynatt, Executive Director of Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology, further explained the partnership to me: “Drawing from expertise in systems engineering, architecture and human-centered design, Georgia Tech will work with Children's healthcare providers to design systems that create effective, patient-centered care. These systems will extend current EMR systems to support effective coordination of care spanning medical specializations and geographic locations. New scheduling systems will support personalized healthcare delivery, for example, helping parents determine immunization schedules that meet their child's past medical history. New algorithms will help healthcare providers determine the optimal diagnostic tests for pediatric healthcare concerns. Finally, new simulations will demonstrate the economic viability for new forms of preventative and community-based healthcare."

Based on Ms. Mynatt’s explanation, I had a few further questions for the folks at Children’s. Dr. Paul Spearman, Chief Research Officer at Children’s, was happy to provide further details.

The research deal PR mentions that the “initiative will focus on developing medical technologies aimed at pediatric care.” Can you provide a bit more detail on what these types of technologies might be? Will they be related to certain specialties/conditions?