A lightweight tech device may be helping Canadian doctors to lighten their ever
increasing workload.
Known as Tablet PCs, they're being used in Canadian medical practices in the hopes of providing
physicians with increased efficiency and improved patient care.
Portable and lightweight, Tablet PCs do not have keyboards like
notebook computers, according to Scott Ball, business development
manager, Motion
Computing Inc.
Users have the options of using a touch screen, to handwrite
using a pen-like device (stylus), or to dock the PC onto a
keyboard, said Ball.
He added the portability of these devices makes them ideal for
healthcare providers.
"We focus on areas of the healthcare market that require
mobility...the true mobility aspect of being able to walk around
with a device," said Ball.
Ball said Motion Computing provides the devices for about 15
hospitals in Canada, while in the U.S. there is over 45,000
healthcare workers using Tablet PCs in about 2,000 facilities.
He said the largest barriers to installing more Tablet PCs in Canadian hospitals and clinics are the lack of
wireless infrastructure and compatible software applications.
"It's very typical for hospitals to put the cart before the
horse and want to look at the very neat tools like a Tablet, but
when you ask them 'Do you have a wireless infrastructure
installed?' the answer is typically, 'I think that is budgeted for
next year,'" said Ball.
He said Tablet PCs help make smaller practices operate smoother,
and noted the doctors there typically work long hours and often
spend time on weekends refilling prescriptions.
"Anything that can improve their efficiency is much
appreciated."
Dr. Ken Florence has a private practice in Toronto, and said he
uses a Tablet PC in his clinic because he likes the added
efficiency it provides.
"I don't have to worry about illegible handwriting, I can make
decent notes and see more people without having to write...if you
compare it to the notes I used to have years ago they contain a lot
more information," said Florence.
Florence noted that while there are some problems with the
Tablet PC, they are not that different from problems someone would
have using a regular PC.
"Just like any computer you may have at home, sometimes it
crashes, sometimes it needs to be rebooted, and sometimes the
network breaks down...little things like that.
"Florence said now that he is using a Tablet PC he "couldn't
live without it."
"I love it, I could never go back.B In fact, I had my
Tablet stolen a couple weeks ago and the few days it took me to
replace it and get the software back on I was going crazy," he
said. "It brought back nightmares of the old days."
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