When Dr. Rob Olson wants to show his cancer patients what areas of their body he's diagnosed as needing radiation treatment, he turns to his iPad.
Pictures are worth a thousand words and Olson is making use of tablet computers and smartphones to provide those images to patients.
"We've trialed iPads and we all use electronic devices all the time," said Olson, a radiation oncologist from Vancouver hired to work at the BC Cancer Agency Centre of the North when it opens next year in Prince George.
"We don't memorize everything, so there's always things we have to look up, but we also use them to show information to patients. No longer do we not involve patients in the decision-making process.
"We want to show them where their cancer is and explain how the radiation is going to target those areas and also explain what stage there cancer is and why we're making those decisions.
"It's much easier when
somebody can show a picture that's them, not just a diagram that's generic."
Hand-held computers and software that gives doctors access to data online at any time allows them to share the images on their screens with their colleagues to help diagnose patients.
They also have easy access to medical documents that save time and helps them provide better patient care. The devices enhance communication in hospitals, which reduces the risk of errors in patient treatment.
They can also be used as a tool to deliver medicine remotely and empower patients to get involved in their own treatment. Heart patients in Ontario are using hand-held electrocardiogram devices to monitor heart rhythms, which are plugged in to smartphones and then sent back to doctors.
"We're in an investigative phase right now, trying to see what is functional with the systems we have in place," said radiation oncologist Matthew Follwell, who has also been recruited by the Prince George cancer clinic. "A lot of it does revolve around confidentiality, making sure the patient's information is secure, and that's one of the difficulties with having a wireless environment.
"We've tried to design it so it's completely wireless within the centre, which allows a lot more flexibility. We can make sure patients know exactly what we're talking about when we're discussing abstract things about where that tumour might be. It's a matter of having that information right at our fingertips for them."
