BlackBerry announced today it will provide interRAI Canada with BlackBerry smartphones , software and support to assist the company in developing mobile versions of intake screening and questionnaires for healthcare running on BlackBerry’s secure end-to-end mobile solution.
These custom screening applications will mobilize assessment tools and assist interRAI in their studies. The applications will be developed for the BlackBerry 10 platform and leverage the end-to-end security provided by BES12, a cross-platform EMM solution by BlackBerry(R), to improve outcomes in acute care and mental health for patients.
interRAI Canada is a research, education and knowledge exchange cluster based at the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo. Its focus is on promoting innovations in data, evidence, and application systems for the health and social service sectors.
“It is critical for us to have the ability to mobilize the interRAI assessment and screening systems to conduct our research and to allow healthcare workers to provide better quality care,” said John Hirdes, PhD and Professor, from interRAI Canada.
“Our partnership with BlackBerry gives us a secure mobile platform to mobilize our applications and access to an experienced and innovative technology partner in the healthcare field. BlackBerry provides end-to-end healthcare solutions and we’re very pleased that we have their support with our initiatives.”
The partnership announced today will focus on two very important initiatives. The first will be the development of a time trial application that will track nurses’ time per-patient with the goal of improving outcomes in caring for patients with mental health issues.
The second initiative is to develop an application that will mobilize an assessment and screening questionnaire that nurses can use to allow them to evaluate the overall health of a patient. Mobilizing the interRAI systems will improve the efficacy in acute care, increase adoption of the questionnaire and improve the quality of care to frail older persons in hospitals. Once developed, these applications will be used in clinical trials across interRAI’s global network of doctors, nurses and health practitioners.
“We’re excited to be partnering closely with interRAI on these two projects to provide innovative solutions for healthcare workers, and ultimately to provide better care for patients,” said Marty Beard, COO at BlackBerry.
“BlackBerry delivers a secure cross-platform, deeply integrated communications engine for the exchange of health information and our partnership with interRAI underscores our ongoing commitment to being at the forefront of innovation in healthcare.”
