Comments on: Apple iPad: Promising Features For Healthcare Use and Medical Education

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:01:08 +0000

Hi Alexander, possibly however there was chatter about enabling a small number of multitasking capabilities to the iPad in a future OS release. Check out: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_...

By: Alexander

Alexander — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:53:18 +0000

I use remote access EMR. The EMR I use has iPad app available. If iPad doesn’t do multitasking, does it mean I’ll loose a connection to a database each time I have to switch to a browser or email client?

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:16:19 +0000

I am pretty keen to see what will become of the iPad in healthcare as although its got the potential, I don’t know how well it will sustain drops. (I’ve seen nurses throw mobile phones, drop them in toilets, sit on tablets etc.)

Maybe a serious rubber sleave for it but we’ll see!

By: lokenkristianna

lokenkristianna — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:34:30 +0000

I would like to say the Ipad is not a new idea at all, but whenever apple makes the product, its hailed as the next big thing. Sure, it could easily be one of the new products for healthcare, patients reading up on their own illness (whichever) – but it sure isn’t new.

By: JM

JM — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:52:58 +0000

The iPad might be an advantage for healthcare, if the batterie promises still come true. Our OSS HIS/EMR myCare2x is totaly WEB based and will run smoothly on the iPad from the very beginning. Even multitasking is no problem with an applicatin running in the browser. Wait and see the critical item of battery life.

By: Jared Houck

Jared Houck — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:27:39 +0000

There is a large gap between what many HOPE the iPad will do and what it actually CAN do. Tablet PCs have been on the market for many years and promised many of the same things. The limiting factor has been (and most likely will continue to be) software. In the US, CCHIT/Drummond certification (via the ARRA stimulus) will be the badge that differentiates what healthcare facilities will actually support and purchase.

By: Iltifat Husain

Iltifat Husain — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:10:57 +0000

Jason great points. As of now, reading research articles and medical textbooks has been a huge pain on the iPhone’s screen. This definitely opens up that portal a great deal.

In terms of imaging, there is a great app that I mentioned in the review, Osirix (DICOM station), that does a great job with putting the imaging onto your phone. Using a USB port would actually be more of a hassle when it comes to medical imaging.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:58:09 +0000

I do have a question about imaging…how would you get the images on the thing? There’s no USB ports, so it seems like a pretty closed system…unless the radiologist used the same imaging app, or emailed you the files. But I guess that speaks more to the widespread integration of EMR and all its iterations more than the pad.

Still, though, would be great to have around the office, especially if they get the essential medical references on the iBookstore, or an accessmed app. I’m sure there are pubmed apps and the like already (i dont have an iphone). Top it off with an app encompassing all the literature magazines (or in the bookstore), and youve got one fancy looking deskspace saver.

By: Iltifat Husain

Iltifat Husain — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:03:12 +0000

Rob, you’re right, definitely exciting for patient education and imaging. We’ll be interested to see what companies like Voalte and others come up with

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:18:31 +0000

Apple needs multi-tasking on both iPhone and iPad, but this looks like a winner. Great for patient education, medical images and interacting with EMR, while the iPhone slips into the pocket of the point-of-care worker’s scrubs. You can expect Voalté follow this closely.

By: Iltifat Husain

Iltifat Husain — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:48:11 +0000

Jason, great great point. This is an Operating System issue that Apple definitely has to tackle. They are afraid battery life will really suffer if they don’t do this, however, I think the functionality you mentioned is absolutely crucial.

I think what you’ll see are EMR / patient chart apps that can be paused when they are closed, so you can show your patient a video/picture and then when you open the electronic medical record app you’re presented with the screen you left off on.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:42:44 +0000

The lack of multitasking concerns me a little. I don’t know the extent of it when I heard it, but, say, the inability to keep a patient chart open while you show them a video could be very cumbersome.