For some companies, healthcare simulation is not just a market, but a calling that cannot be escaped. This is true for PCS – a company that started in 2015 and has helped revolutionize patient safety. PCS’s AI-driven patient simulation technology includes virtual patients, wearable simulation, and smart manikins. Further, the company helps clinical simulation centers digitally debrief sessions when the previous alternative was handing out VHS tapes. PCS has also role-played distressed teenager patients to be able to build on a hands-on experience of healthcare simulation.
PCS’s story began back in the 1990s when the founders engaged on a journey around patient healthcare simulation and standardized patient methodologies. The team has since worked with some of the most innovative experts in healthcare simulation as they developed disruptive products.
Overall, the PCS.ai platform is one of the most advanced online simulation platforms. Users can manage all their PCS scenarios and medical simulations through an intuitive, easy-to-use web interface. They can author new patient scenarios, automatically assess learning objectives, and enable learner-driven simulation for their learners as well. The PCS Communication engine leverages the latest advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence to constantly improve. Best-in-class speech recognition and speech synthesis combined with custom natural language processing neural networks.
PCS Spark
PCS Spark offers AI-driven virtual patient encounters for learners of all healthcare disciplines. These are the only virtual patients that can speak for themselves. Each PCS Spark scenario is a complete virtual persona with personal concerns, health history, and everything else you would expect to discuss during a clinical interview. All diverse and expansive patient scenarios are also crafted by PCS’s team of physicians, industry experts, and former standardized patient educators.
The PCS Speech Engine empowers PCS Spark digital patients to speak for themselves. PCS Spark digital patients can understand over 30,000 learner questions and respond with scenario-specific responses. Model-driven physiology brings life-like physiological responses to drug treatments in PCS Spark digital patients. Start infusions, adjust flow rate and administer IM/IV injections after setting dosage.
A robust physical exam enables learners to examine their patients from head to toe and note any abnormalities they may find in order to form a treatment plan. Customize physical findings in scenario authoring. PCS Spark provides instant and automated performance assessment of learning objectives at the end of each scenario letting learners know which areas they did well in and which need work.
The company made three PCS Spark cases available for anyone to try with absolutely zero commitment. Users can experience PCS Spark just as their learners would by interviewing one of the available patients and performing a physical. Here are the details of the three PCS Spark cases readily available:
Valerie Miller (Clinical Interviewing Essentials): Mrs. Valerie Miller, 34 has come to the clinic today with complaints of a headache. Vital signs: T 98.8°F, BP 132/64 mmHg, P 70/min, R 20/min. Your objective is to perform a health assessment by obtaining a focused and relevant history.
Alex Kasyan (Chest Pain): Alex Kasyan is in ER bed 2. He just came in through triage. He is having chest pain 6/10 scale. We took him straight back and the tech is getting in the bed now. His wife is getting him registered. Can you get him going?
Veto Russo (COVID-19 Screening): Mr. Veto Russo, 59 y/o male, has been told to call telehealth services from home to be triaged for flu-like symptoms. Patients are being encouraged to stay home unless the situation warrants an ‘ER’ visit; thus, your objective is to determine if emergent care is necessary.
“We chose PCS Spark because it allows our students to interact naturally with a digital patient using everyday conversation and medical interviewing techniques allowing them to hone their clinical reasoning skills,” said Chad Miller, MD, the associate dean of undergraduate medical education at Saint Louis University.
PCS Flex
Designed for both manikins and standardized patients, PCS Flex elevates any simulation with added realism and simplified control. Everything you need and nothing you don’t. The solution brings model-driven physiology to simulated patient encounters. Palpable pulses and blood pressure measurements match the presented physiology, with dynamically customizable lung/heart/bowel sounds. Prescribed treatments will cause the patient’s vitals to react automatically based on the model-driven physiology.
PCS Flex also allows for the streaming and recording for live monitoring and debriefing. Learners can see and hear healthcare simulations from any device and debrief with video integrated into the PCS user interface. They can additionally use live “push-to-talk” to communicate with the medical simulation participants (or just the SP), whether you are across the hallway or across town.
PCS Alex
A Nasco Healthcare product powered by PCS.ai, PCS Alex enables AI-powered verbal interactions, model-driven physiology and treatments, learner-driven, self-service simulation, and Connected to the PCS.ai simulation platform. The PCS Speech Engine enables Alex to actually listen and respond on his own; thus, Alex can be used to practice healthcare communication. Using advanced cloud-based speech recognition, natural language processing, and speech synthesis, ALEX gives scenario-specific answers to thousands of medical interviewing questions and countless variations.
Click Here to Connect to Leading Healthcare Simulation Vendors Like PCS
Alex connects to the PCS.ai cloud for control from any time, anywhere. Single login to PCS.ai manages all PCS simulators, scenarios, and simulation session recordings through an intuitive, easy-to-use web interface. Users can then collaboratively author new patient scenarios, set up and automatically assess learning objectives, review session logs and AV recordings and enable facilitator-free healthcare simulation for your learners from PCS.ai.
Sometimes it’s not always possible to be in the sim lab. For those times, Virtual ALEX is able to keep the simulations running from any Internet-connected device. Run all of your ALEX scenarios on your very own virtual patient simulator with Virtual ALEX.
Administer drug treatments and ALEX’s advanced physiological model will react automatically. Learn about the physiological implications of various drug delivery, dosage, and timing options. Experience the interconnected nature of vital signs through our validated physiological model.
“Alex integrated an additional layer of realism for nursing students because of the many answer options to questions he may give. Students learn to communicate clearly and concisely when interviewing and interacting with patients,” said Deborah Brzuska, a professor at Gulf Coast State College. Learn more on the PCS website or read these articles below.
