The iPad® has not only been a consumer technology phenomenon, it is the best form factor for documenting a patient encounter with an EHR/EMR. Apple® has sold 100 million iPads in the past 2+ years, and the iPad is responsible for most of the Internet traffic spawned from mobile tablets. The MediTouch EHR® Web application was designed from the “ground up” for the iPad and every day we experience thousands of logins from iPad devices. Even though Apple’s last iOS release (iOS6) was flawed, prompting an apology from the CEO, it is still the best tablet for Web applications on the market today. Steve Jobs once commented that a smaller form factor than the original 11.9 inch screen in the “large” iPad would not be appealing to consumers. Well the rumor is that before his untimely death he changed his mind. Either way, his successors have come to the realization that a smaller form factor that fits between the iPhone and the traditional iPad is required to compete with hardware manufactured by Apple’s arch rivals: Google®, Samsung®, and Amazon®. Hence, today, we have been “blessed” with a new kind of iPad — the iPad Mini. Continue reading…
iPad® EHR
The next version of Apple’s iOS operating system (iOS 6) for iPhone and iPad (versions 2 and “New”) was announced this week and there are plenty of new features for iOS device users, but most of them do not directly impact MediTouch EHR users running our award-winning EHR software on an iPad… Yet we have discovered a couple that should make MediTouch users happy, but we advise waiting to download iOS 6 until Apple’s first service update becomes available. Continue reading…
We’ve discussed the boom of physician tablet computer ownership and use in previous EHR blog posts. In 2011, 30% of doctors in the United States owned a tablet computer, compared to only 5% of the general public. According to the AMA News, “One year after Apple® launched its first iPad® tablet computer, 27% of primary care and specialty physicians owned an iPad or similar device — a rate five times higher than the general population, according to a report by the market research firm Knowledge Networks.” Continue reading…
In the April 9 print edition of American Medical News, the lead business story was “Everything in Medicine is Going Mobile”, and a sister article titled, “Challenges with Going Mobile”. The theme of the article, per Phil Chuang director of information services for Sutter Health in California, is that medical professionals have, “seen the power of them (mobile devices) in their personal lives, and they want to see that same power in their clinical lives.” Mobile devices definitely pass the “cool factor” test, but if the software is designed properly, they also are the most efficient way to chart an encounter.
In addition, he commented that, “Just because mobile devices work well in their personal lives doesn’t mean they will work in a clinical setting. Being proficient at playing Angry Birds on an iPad® doesn’t mean using an EHR on the iPad will be as easy.” He cautioned, “If the EHR wasn’t designed for use on a tablet, the user will not gain the same efficiencies that they would have on a desktop computer. For example, an EHR that uses a lot of small checkboxes for a clinical exam won’t work very efficiently for someone with adult-sized fingers trying to check the boxes. Many apps were written for a 19-inch computer screen, and we’re shoving them on a 7-inch mobile screen.” Continue reading…
We have previously written about the new iPad® in the blog posts titled, iPad® 3 Release Rumors — Don’t Get Rid of Your iPad 2® Just yet and The New iPad®… Just Call it iPad® — Rumors Confirmed and Debunked. In this post we will delve into the new iPad’s dictation feature, and detail its benefits for MediTouch® users.
At HealthFusion® we believe our MediTouch users will benefit most from the new iPad’s dictation feature, although the enhanced retina display and improved 4G internet connection speeds are also useful advancements.
Doctors have been using dictation for years; for the keyboard challenged, talking is far easier and less time-consuming than typing. It is difficult to argue that the addition of dictation to the already popular iPad would be an instant improvement — assuming the transcription is accurate. We put the new iPad dictation system to the test, and we concluded that the dictation software works well, especially given its infancy. I am even dictating this blog post on the new iPad, with only a few, minor edits needed post production.
The dictation feature on the iPhone 4S® is extremely similar to that of the new iPad, however Siri® integration is lacking. The complex tasks and conversation-like interactions of Siri are unavailable, but dictation is integrated into the Safari® browser and across the iOS operating system. So if you want to get a feel for the dictation capabilities on the new iPad, try dictating to Siri on the iPhone 4S. Continue reading…
