A touchscreen GUI is a graphical user interface operated by fingertips or a stylus. This can be a PC or laptop or on a handheld device like a tablet. Touchscreen GUIs are becoming increasingly commonplace in medical settings and offer a range of benefits to health care professionals and patients alike. The advantages these medical touchscreen devices bring are many, and their importance should not be overlooked. 
Improved Organization
Medical facilities are often in a state of chaos – even if it’s organized chaos. The introduction of touchscreen GUIs, however, as part of a medical device, or a larger network, helps to combat disorganization. Streamlining processes and giving access to information makes staying focused easy. Users are also afforded the ability to update information at the touch of a button.
Protected, Easily-accessible Data
With the use of a touchscreen GUI, patients or medical professionals have easy access to a whole range of data stored by the device, via a simple interaction with the screen. For example, instead of having to wade through three decades’ worth of medical notes, a physician can simply find the appropriate application, and enter a specific date or keyword; the device returns the appropriate search results. Additionally, with a paperless system and proper data security protocols in place, sensitive patient information is safer.
Lower Cognitive Load and Reduction in Human Error
When using a touchscreen graphical user interface, access to all critical functionality is laid out in front of you. It’s incredibly easy to enter data or to retrieve information. You can also set reminders on some devices. The ease of use and multiple functions reduces the required cognitive load, ensuring you have more available mental processing capacity to focus on more important or complex tasks.
By reducing the necessary cognitive load and increasing ease of use, touchscreen GUIs help to reduce human error. For example, those applications with “required fields” refuse to let you complete a task or move off the current display without giving an appropriate response. Additionally, many high quality GUIs ask you to confirm an action, making you pause briefly to consider whether this is the appropriate approach.
Medical GUI in action
The t:slim insulin pump is a prime example of a cutting edge touchscreen GUI medical device that empowers patients. The device makes monitoring blood sugar levels and delivering insulin super simple, while ensuring the risk of human error is negligible.
It boasts a state-of-the-art shatter-resistant touchscreen that provides easy navigation and simple reporting, allowing users to quickly find and view complete insulin delivery histories. To reduce the chance of human error, the interface has a number of safety features, including a screen locks and confirmation screens that require user input before setting changes or beginning insulin delivery.
From concept to reality
In the modern era, many people conceptualize how modern medicine would be further enhanced by the use of touchscreen GUIs. However, companies like Altia take it a step further. They take these ideas and turn them into reality, by offering GUI development tools that help companies empower patients with simple, straightforward embedded user interfaces that aid medical professionals in their duties, and ensure the highest standards of health care.
Contact Altia today to learn more.