“Every year, nearly 7 million children under age 5 die from illnesses like pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria despite the availability of life-saving medical solutions.”
Last week IBM and Boston Children’s Hospital announced the OPENPediatrics forum, a global education portal designed to connect healthcare providers around the world so that they can share information and resources, working together to improve the quality of care received by critically ill children, no matter where they may live.
Developed in IBM Labs in Cambridge, Mass., OPENPediatrics trains medical professionals using a unique on-demand, interactive, digital and social learning experience, equipping them to perform life-saving procedures and treatments for children who would not otherwise have access to intensive care. The content is supplied by experts at Boston Children’s Hospital and includes seminars from international expert clinicians.
In this video, Associate Program Director for OPENPediatrics Traci Wolbrink, MD, MPH, provides an overview of the program:
“Critical information about caring for very sick children is bottlenecked within institutions around the world. This information needs to get out there to save the lives of children worldwide.”
“OPENPediatrics is a forum to connect healthcare providers around the world and allow them to share information with each other. It’s not a one-way transfer of information from any one hospital to another, but really meant to develop a global community that can share information and resources with each other.”
She goes on to describe some of the areas that make OPENPediatrics stand apart:
- The high quality of education that’s provided on the platform
- A multi-disciplinary approach, with education material for nurses, physicians, and respiratory therapists.
- As a platform, it’s unique because it functions whether or not you’re connected to the internet.
More on OPENPediatrics, from the press release:
IBM will supply the technology infrastructure, including its social networking, cloud, data analytics, video, and simulation technologies, and combine it with the world-class knowledge and medical expertise of Boston Children’s Hospital to bring pediatric care to global communities. IBM interactive, the company’s digital agency, developed the technology interface.
Medical personnel can access state-of-the-art simulations, video seminars and illustrations in real-time to treat critically ill patients. For example, these visuals can train a physician through simulation to use a pediatric ventilator. To fuel social interactions and learning, OPENPediatrics will host a global social collaboration forum that connects experts from around the world to share break through findings, best practices and patient care examples.
Learn More:
Adam Gartenberg 