Tablet PCs in pharmacy practice – Use among pharmacists

Today we take a look at how some pharmacists are investigating tablet PCs in their practice settings. Enjoy the third part of the four part series.

Tablet PC use among pharmacists
While there is much anecdotal evidence for the popularity of tablet PCs among healthcare professionals, the medical literature supporting their use in healthcare is limited. This is especially true for pharmacy. An article by McCreadie and McGregory described the implementation of tablet PCs into the workflow of six clinical pharmacists.¹⁶ Of the six pharmacists in the article only two made a complete switch from a manual system to an electronic record keeping system on the tablet PC, and one pharmacist found the tablet PC actually decreased efficiency. Obviously this is a small sampling, but typical of pharmacists feelings toward tablet PC use in general. Not all pharmacists are open to the idea of new technology, especially newer technology like tablet PCs.

When forced to make a decision, pharmacists have chosen the tablet PC over other options. Krough, et al. compared a “computer on wheels” (COW) to a tablet PC for clinical documentation.¹⁷ Eight pharmacists participated in the survey. As expected the pharmacists in the study preferred the tablet PC to the COW, however pharmacists on advanced services like the transplant unit continued to maintain a manual documentation system even though they felt the tablet PC was beneficial. Unlike the study by McCreadie and McGregory, this group lacked an integrated electronic medical record (EMR), resulting in a significant amount of free-text input into their tablet PC. An integrated EMR may have altered these results. Unfortunately, no study exists in which to make the comparison.

Our department has integrated tablet PCs into key areas of the hospital where there is a strong pharmacy presence, specifically the intensive care units. Initial response from end users has been positive. Most activity revolves around accessing laboratory values and patient medication records while on rounds. The ICU pharmacists were given a Motion C5 tablet (slate style) for six weeks followed by a Compaq TravelMate C300 series tablet (convertible style) for six weeks. No preference for one model over the other was given as one pharmacist preferred the convertible and the other preferred the slate. We have since purchased a Dell Latitude XT tablet PC which has also received positive feedback. Based on feedback and continued use, we are planning to implement tablet PCs on other units including pediatrics, oncology and general medicine later this year.

References
17. Krogh PR, Rough S, Thomley S. Comparison of two personal-computer-based mobile devices to support pharmacists’ clinical documentation. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2008;65(2):154-7.
18. Fairbanks RJ, Hildebrand JM, Kolstee KE, Schneider SM, Shah MN. Medical and nursing staff highly value clinical pharmacists in the emergency department. Emerg Med J. 2007;24(10):716-718.