Healthcare
Olympic Games data wrap: the scan score
Wait-and-see, two anti-inflammatories and a packet of frozen peas obviously aren’t acceptable suggestions when you’re a modern Olympian on the cusp (or in the midst!) of competition and injury strikes. What’s needed is fast, accurate diagnosis and a treatment plan based on clear facts. Welcome to the Olympic Games Polyclinic.
Kitted out with cutting-edge digital-imaging technology, and staffed by volunteer doctors and specialists from the host country, the Polyclinic is also available for use by the medical teams of the competing nations. Its array of brand new GE MRIs, ultrasounds and X-rays ensures spot-on diagnosis.
When you see the set-up, it’s no wonder that Dr Richard Budgett, the International Olympic Committee’s Medical and Scientific Director (he was chief medical officer for the London 2012 Games), calls the Polyclinic the “jewel in the crown” of medical services at the Olympic Games.
At Rio 2016, data-loving doctors had electronic medical records (EMRs) in use for the first time at an Olympic Games, running on GE’s Centricity Practice Solution. This made it easy to tally up what body parts had been scanned, on equipment that was also made by GE and later donated by the IOC to Brazilian hospitals.
The results are in. GE Reports has tallied up 2016 Polyclinic exam scans, divided them by body part and put them into an infographic with a Rio vibe: