4 cool tech projects underway at Christiana Care

These days, virtually all companies are tech companies.

Banks, retailers, automakers, utility companies, libraries and nonprofits… and, of course, hospitals.

As part of Delaware Innovation Week 2018’s Dev Talks, Technical.ly hosted the panel An Insider’s Perspective on Software Engineering in Healthcare featuring three Software Development Engineers from the award winning Health & Technology Innovation Center at Christiana Care.

Moderator Catherine Burch, Head of the Health & Technology Innovation Center at Christiana Care, led the discussion with John DiGiovanni, Innovation Architect at Christiana Care; Jonathan Meade, Principal Software Development Engineer at Christiana Care; and Erwin Bautista, Senior Software Development Engineer in the Health & Technology Innovation Center at Christiana Care.

Software development in the medtech field can be incredibly rewarding, said the panelists. The products they develop save lives, improve quality of life, and simply make things more convenient for patients and medical staff alike.

So, what kind of tech did they talk about on the panel?

VR Positive Distraction Therapy

Virtual Reality is increasingly used in medical training and testing, and is on its way to being a valuable physical therapy tool, thanks to VR gloves that allow users to see their hands. Positive Distraction Therapy has been tested with chemotherapy patients at Christiana Care, and the outcome was unexpected. “It gives us a human connection with patients,” said DiGiovanni. VR therapy patients have expressed gratitude for making their overall experience more positive — some even start to look forward to chemo days. Tech 1, Cancer 0.

Emergency room tech

New software helps make Christiana Care’s ERs more efficient by improving communication in the trauma bay. For the developers, it also gives them the opportunity to see what’s going on in this crucial space, and solve problems that can be truly life-saving.

Cardiac arrest app

One current project is an app designed to save lives in the crucial moments of a cardiac arrest. “It’s rewarding to know you can make a difference in the care we give,” said Meade.

The Christiana Care Alexa skill

Did you know you can use your Amazon Echo to get info on Christiana Care? Enable the skill, and you can use it to find nearby doctors offices and labs, hours of operation, phone numbers, and basic health advice such as whether you need a flu shot (which you do, if you haven’t gotten one already).

If this line of work appeals to you, Christiana Care — the largest employer in Delaware — has tech jobs available.