Palmdoc Chronicles: “It looks as if most doctors and nurses would rather not touch the iPad at work (or deal with any other kind of tablet computing). They certainly won’t be making it their go-to device. “We had some instances where physicians wanted iPads – thought they wanted them – borrowed them, used them for a few days and returned them,” said Kirk Larson, a vice president and chief information officer at Children’s Hospital Central California, who spoke at the Healthcare Information Transformation conference in Jacksonville, Florida.” – This article caught my attention because I used to work at the facility mentioned in the article (Children’s Hospital Central California). The actual content isn’t really a big deal. Unlike hats, one size doesn’t necessarily fit all when it comes to tablets. Slate tablets really aren’t designed for data input. I ran into this problem nearly two years ago when the hospital I was working for at the time rolled out iPads to the pharmacists. Within a couple of weeks they were asking for their convertibles back (Dell XT2 tablet PCs).
Telerounding with an iPad at Henry Ford Hospital
The surgeon and his patient are actually 25 miles apart in two different hospitals, each armed with an iPad equipped with the live video chat software FaceTime.
Through face-to-face video calls on iPads and other tablets, Henry Ford is initiating the next wave of high-tech communication at hospitals called “telerounding.”
“Patients are looking for us to use current technology in a way that improves their care, and ‘telerounding’ with the iPad really fits that need in enhancing the communication and care following surgery.”
The iPad fills a critical need for Henry Ford surgeons like Dr. Rogers – who perform operations each week at both Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital – to communicate with their patients in the clinic or inpatient setting, even when they’re not in the same city.
Previously, the surgeon would call the patient on the phone if he wasn’t on site. By replacing a phone call with a video-chat on the iPad, patients are able to have a personal and confidential conversation with their surgeon.
I love this concept. I talked to a pharmacy director at the end of last year that was doing something similar with the iPad for patient medication consultation at the time of discharge. Discharge medications were filled by the pharmacy and delivered to the patient’s bedside by a pharmacy technician toting an iPad. If the patient desired consultation with a pharmacist the technician fired up FaceTime. Cool use of technology.
Physician shares thoughts on using tablet PC in the field
Mobile Healthc Computing.com: “Dr. R. Dale Walker, from the Cherokee Tribe of Oklahoma, is a professor of Psychiatry, Public Health and Preventive Medicine as well as the director of the Center for American Indian Education and Research at Oregon Health and Science University and director of the One Sky Center.
… “When out in the field, you want to eliminate as many things that could go wrong as possible, and the J3500 Tablet PC does just that with its battery life, ruggedness, power and performance,” said Dr. Walker. “Consumer tablets just can’t compute like the Windows®-based Motion Tablet PCs, and who wants to carry around multiple systems when you have everything you need in one device?”
According to Dr. Walker, using the J3500 Tablet PC is just like taking notes on paper, but much more efficient. An hour’s worth of notes can be converted to text and emailed out in just minutes. “The ability to capture information, report back on my findings and share knowledge in near real time is an invaluable capability,” said Dr. Walker.
The tablet serves as a desktop replacement or portable library, helping Dr. Walker look up, verify or access educational tools on the fly, which proves extremely valuable considering the often remote locations of the communities. The access to information also reduces the amount of time spent on each subject, meaning more time to cover more topics. “It’s giving them the gift of information,” said Dr. Walker.”
The article reads a bit like a propaganda piece from Motion Computing, but I agree with pretty much all the highlights. I’ve been a fan of the Motion J3500 for a while. I’ve written about it before and stand by my opion. The only negative to the device is the price tag. In this day of inexpensive consumer tablets it’s difficult to swallow the price tag, which is a staggering $2-3K. You get a lot for your money, but it’s still hard to swallow.
A tablet for the pool, the Fujitsu Arrows Tab LTE F-01D
The Fujitsu Arrow Tab LTE F-01D is similar to many tablets currently on the market today. It has all the goodies like a 10.1-inch 1280 x 768 screen, a 1GHz dual-core processor, a pair of cameras, 16GB of storage, micro-USB, microSD card slot, and Android 3.2 Honeycomb. Now for the really cool stuff, it’s waterproof and obeys gesture commands via its front facing camera.
Lexicomp I.V. Compatibility module available for Android
It warms the cockles of my heart to read stuff like this. The I.V. Compatibility module for Lexicomp is now available for the Android OS. I couldn’t find any screen shots so you’ll just have to use your imagination.
You can find more information here.
Lexicomp’s I.V. Compatibility module is now available for your Lexicomp On-Hand subscription for Android™! By following the update instructions below, you can add this module to your existing Lexicomp On-Hand subscription. There is no additional charge for this enhancement.
The I.V. Compatibility module allows you to review compatibility and stability information for hundreds of parenteral medications and fluids. This module is based on information from the King® Guide to Parenteral Admixtures®. Thousands of clinicians are already using Lexicomp’s I.V. Compatibility module every day – now you can access this vital information on your Android smartphone or tablet as well.
To update your subscription to include I.V. Compatibility, follow these instructions:
Ensure you have a strong Wi-Fi or cellular connection.
On your Android device, tap the Market icon and search for Lexicomp.
Select Lexicomp and tap Update. When the warning appears, tap Accept & Download.
When the application is installed, tap the Lexicomp icon to access your software.
Physician mobile choice driving IT development
amednews.com: “With an estimated 81% of physicians using smartphones (up from 72% in 2010), according to a survey of 2,041 physicians released May 4 by Manhattan Research, Albany Medical Center was not alone in feeling pressure from physicians to allow them mobile access. Hospitals and health information technology vendors are realizing that the way to sell physicians on health information technology is to make it mobile. Instead of hospitals and vendors telling physicians to adapt to their preferred ways of using technology, physicians are gaining the power to sway hospitals and vendors to their preferred way of using it.”
There are a couple of take home messages from this article. First, the increased use of mobile technology is finally forcing healthcare systems to make changes to their approach to technology. It’s something that’s been needed for a long time. Second, the article clearly demonstrates that our healthcare system remains physician centric. It isn’t until physicians cry foul that changes are made. I first asked for “mobile support” in a hospital setting nearly a decade ago, and continued to ask for it until I left the industry about six months ago. Unfortunately I’m a lowly pharmacist. Even at the last facility I worked in, which considered themselves quite technologically advanced, it wasn’t until physicians began demanding iPad support that we got it.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Just sayin’.
Motion Ships the First Ultra-light and Rugged CL900 Tablet PC
Motion News Release regarding their new CL900 tablet PC:
BlackBerry PlayBook impressions
Mobile Health Computing: “I had a chance to briefly see the BlackBerry PlayBook at HIMSS 2011, but then I had a chance to spend some time and play with it recently when I was at the airport. The device is small and light and my first impression was: “this is simply too small.”
The PlayBook is really slim and has a solid feel. You’ll notice that the device does not have a “home” button like the iPad. You’ll need to play around to figure out how to navigate back to the home menu. Try a few on-screen gestures and you’ll quickly figure it out. If you can’t figure it out, try swiping up, swipe down, swipe left, etc. The new mobile Operating Systemis not like your typical BlackBerry. This new OS is much closer to HP webOS (formerly Palm webOS).”
I also had an opportunity to play with a BlackBerry PlayBook recently while at the airport (I wonder if it was the same airport). I found myself in a BlackBerry store, which I didn’t even know existed. I agree with much of what is said above, but I didn’t feel the device too small. I like being able to hold the PlayBook in one hand while controlling it with the other. I feel the same way about the 7” Galaxy Samsung tablet. It’s personal preference at this point.
One thing I think BlackBerry did especially well was the OS, which I also think is similar in approach to the webOS. I found it a breeze to navigate through several open apps without having to jump out of any single applications. With that said, it may take you a second to figure out how best to navigate using “off screen” finger swiping. It wasn’t immediately obvious.
The bottom line is that I’d like to have one.
Taking a look at the new Lenovo X220t Tablet PC
I purchased a Lenovo x201t Tablet PC back in November 2010. It’s been a great machine.
The new x220t is every bit as impressive as the x201t, but has a slightly larger 12.5-inch Gorilla Glass touchscreen. In addition it has a new ThinkPad battery pack that should provide the user some serious portability without the need to continuously be tethered to a plug. I get about 5-6 hours of continuous use on a single charge with my x201t extended battery pack. I expect the new x220t will get at least that. Throw in the new batter slice and users could potentially get up to 16 hours on a single charge. You simply can’t ask for more than that.
Read more …
BlackBerry devices in healthcare (Video)
I found this interesting video (below) showing some of the things BlackBerry is doing at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). The name BlackBerry really doesn’t come to mind when you think of healthcare. Maybe the new BlackBerry PlayBook will help change all that. It’s a compelling device for anyone already using a BlackBerry smartphone.
There’s a great review of the BlackBerry PlayBook at CrackBerry.com if you’re interested in learning more about the device.
