title: Scanning the horizon: emerging hospital-wide technologies and their impact on critical care.
abstract: This commentary represents a selective survey of developments relevant to critical care. Selected themes include advances in point-of-care diagnostic testing, glucose control, novel microbiological diagnostics and infection control measures, and developments in information technology that have implications for intensive care. The latter encompasses an early example of an artificially intelligent clinical decision support mechanism, the introduction of a national health care information technology programme (UK NPfIT) and its implications, and exotic threats to patient safety due to emergent behaviour in complex information systems.
authors.affiliation: Northwick Park & St Marks Hospitals, Harrow, UK. ganesh.suntharalingam@nwlh.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Ganesh
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Suntharalingam
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cousins
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gattas
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chapman
mesh_terms: D020811:Biomedical Technology / Q000639:trends*; D001786:Blood Glucose; D003422:Critical Care / Q000639:trends*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000401:mortality; D006751:Hospital Information Systems / Q000639:trends; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000639:trends; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000639:trends*; D018805:Sepsis / Q000401:mortality
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose