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Two Connecticut Companies Taking the
Frustration Out of Your Next Doctor Visit

We all share one common experience in the doctor’s office: the wait. With not much more to read than old magazines, waiting to see a doctor has become a frustrating and highly unproductive fact of life. But if two Connecticut companies have their way, your experience in the doctor’s office will never be the same.

Advanced Technical Support (ATS) of West Hartford and Supportive Oncology Services (SOS) of Monroe are collaborating on cutting-edge technology that promises to drastically improve the inefficient way patients and physicians interact at the point-of-care. “The frustration levels of both patients and clinicians have probably never been higher.” reports The National Academy of Sciences in its recently released study of the U.S. healthcare system, Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century. The report goes on to note that the healthcare system in this country is in need of major overhaul and technology is one of the solutions.

ATS and SOS are looking to introduce easy-to-use electronic tablets into every doctor’s office, starting first in cancer clinics. Before even seeing their doctors, patients will use these tablets to supply information on their condition. And there is no typing involved because the tablets do not have keyboards – only touch-sensitive screens like bank machines.

The system these two Connecticut companies have developed not only will save doctors time gathering data, but will allow them to focus more on treatment. “Doctors are under incredible time pressures. We can help them get information from their patients in a more complete, organized and efficient way.” says Dave Engelhardt, ATS President. “In the blink of an eye after a patient finishes entering information on our tablet, we analyze the data using comparative databases and produce a report the doctor uses in the visit with the patient. We think by using technology we can help make doctors more productive and practice better medicine.”

Nowhere is this system in more need than cancer treatment where the disease and even its treatment can cause damaging physical and psychological problems such as pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression. SOS President Ted Okon says that, “Unfortunately, problems typically go undiagnosed and untreated in cancer patients because of physician time pressures. Problems not only result in poor quality of life but can hinder treatment and increase the cost of treating cancer if not addressed. We don’t have the cure for cancer but we have a system that red-flags problems and helps in providing better cancer care.”

One physician treating cancer who does not have to be convinced of the benefits of the system is Kurt Tauer, M.D., one of the founders of SOS. “One of the daily dilemmas of treating cancer is the need to treat the whole person, not just the tumor, up against all the time pressures. I now have a tool that identifies any problems before I even see the patient, letting me focus on treatment,” says Tauer who has been using the system in practice for several months.

The story does not stop there. The same tablets that patients use to supply information provide information in full-motion video. Sitting in their doctors’ offices, patients can get information on their disease, treatment, symptoms and other topics. They can even access the Internet. “We can totally customize the information needs of patients and tie it to their treatment,” says Engelhardt. “Our system is highly interactive, very easy for anyone to use and very video oriented. We mix text with lots of video clips featuring doctors, nurses and patients.”

The Pew Internet & American Life Project recently estimated that 52 million Americans are now going to the Internet for medical information. “Patients are simply not getting the information they need out of doctors’ offices, especially in cancer,” remarks Okon. “We will bring reliable, practical information to patients starting at the point-of-care. It’s important that the information patients get be linked very closely with their care.”

If the ATS/SOS vision of the world comes true, your next visit to the doctor will be a lot different. From the minute you walk in the door you’ll be productive giving important information about your condition. Long gone will be the days when you leave the office kicking yourself because you forgot to tell your doctor something. If you finish and have to wait a little, you’ll have all types of information at your fingertips. The only frustration you might have is when you get called into seeing the doctor. Imagine – wishing you had more time before seeing your doctor. How the world will change!

Advanced Technical Support, Inc. has been providing state-of-the-art technology solutions to clients for fifteen years. Clients include Pitney Bowes and Johnson & Johnson. In working with SOS, ATS is bringing together technology that includes pen-base computing, wireless communications and the Internet. David Engelhardt can be reached at 860/586-9204.

Supportive Oncology Services, Inc. is a start-up company whose mission is to revolutionize how information flows at the point-of-care between patients and physicians. The system that SOS and ATS have developed that collects and delivers information to cancer patients is in actual use at a large Mid-South cancer clinic. Ted Okon can be reached at 203/459-1164.

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