Mobile Clinical Assistant

Bringing vital information to the point of care

Since 2004, Intel has explored ways that new mobile technologies can improve the delivery of healthcare. Based on ethnographic research, hospital workflow studies, and thousands of conversations with healthcare professionals worldwide, we concluded that nurses and doctors in clinical settings need a new type of product designed specifically to accommodate their high-pressure environment and interrupt-driven workflows.

One result—designed in collaboration with clinicians—is the mobile clinical assistant (MCA) reference architecture. Along with appropriate software, the MCA enables clinicians to access patient care records at the point of care and document a patient's condition in real time. This can aid in reducing transcription errors, enhancing workflow, and delivering faster, safer care.

Intel is working with hardware and software vendors to develop and refine products and applications based on the MCA reference design. Products are being brought to market by vendors such as Motion Computing and Philips FIMI. And more than a dozen healthcare software providers and solution providers support the MCA.