27 May
2016
27 May
'16
4:06 p.m.
On 2016-05-27 5:04 PM, Ali wrote:
After all, what could possibly go wrong?
http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/05/faulty-av-scan-disrupts-patients-he…
It makes me wonder how many patients have had to
wait on care or didn't
get proper care because of an IT screwup related to Windows. I have to
say just _seeing_ Windows on machines in the ER made me livid. I found
it breathtaking they were that caviler about getting people checked in,
keeping records straight, etc... I guess I shouldn't have visited the
sausage factory, so to speak...
Then again, folks in hospitals probably should be more concerned with
patients than with their IT tools. Ugh. Still. Windows? I'd have felt
better about paper forms. At least they don't blue screen.
I would say very few. You have to remember critical systems are not running
a general windows system i.e. people are not surfing the web on them and
installing the latest games recommended by friends from facebook. ...
The more specialized equipment (fluoro machines, MRI/CT, etc.) usually have
their own OS although I am seeing C-Arms w/ windows back bones now a days as
well. As the focus is going toward cost saving more and more generalized
HW/SW is being used. After all why re-invent everything for each device when
you can use windows to run the HW, network, input, etc. and just have the
medical device (e.g. ultrasound probe) act like a peripheral with its own
drivers.
Where windows causes an issue for the hospital is in the general business
areas (HR, accounting, administration, etc.).
-Ali