Using an iPad for accessing the EMR

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Permalink Reply by Chris Paton on January 30, 2010 at 10:50pm

I agree that there's a lot to be said for pen and paper but it should be used in addition to the IT systems and not instead of them.

Tablets have been around in healthcare for a long time. They seem like an obvious solution to the problem of physicians and nurses needing access to information while on their feet. However, none of the devices offered so far have really taken off in the healthcare industry. I think the biggest problems have been weight and clunky operating systems. Some tablets take several minutes to boot up or log in, this is really not acceptable in the healthcare environment.

If the iPhone is anything to go by, this iPad will be to tablets what the iPhone is to clunky windows mobile 'Pocket PC' type devices. It will out-perform on many levels to the extent that it could possibly be a solution the problem of giving mobile health professionals access to their information systems without needing to sit down at a computer.

Like most technology innovations in healthcare this will be driven by the individual practitioners. If they insist on having an iPad, they'll get it eventually, even if they have to buy it themselves and bring it into their clinics or hospitals.

If a hospital EMR/EHR is web-based, this looks like a viable tool for accessing it.

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Permalink Reply by Eduardo Almeida on January 31, 2010 at 3:45am

Chris Paton,

Very well said. I totally agree. The problem has been presented to the medical community. We need more efficiency. However, sometimes I get the impression that the old school is totally closed to any attempt towards technology. I was reading an article another day in which the writer was presenting a very interesting contradiction. On one hand, health care professionals and providers do love technology if the subject is towards xrays, ultrasound, and other exam related devices. On the other hand, the big majority and especially the old school, is very skeptical about EMR Applications.

I personally think that EMR Applications are no longer a need, but a MUST to all medical industry. Doctors cannot write faster and if they do it is going to be even harder to get their writing. The whole purpose on opting for an EMR solution is the focus we must have in a possible future with less redundancies, which might help us lowering costs. Then we have the need for mobility, access, and reliable and secure sharing options. If we rely on hand writing, I am sorry, but we will never get there. Also, I totally buy the argument and understand when the previous generation says that they cannot provide the best medical advice and services if they have to struggle with computer clicks at the same time. However, it is very much true that the new generation can get notes done at least twice faster and 1000 times neater if they type instead of using the regular pen and paper. As our clocks moves to the future and not to the past…

Here at EasyMedFile.com, which is our EMR web-based proposal, we have a project/idea in which we can allow doctors to hand write on a table PC and then we attach that as a digital file to the patient’s record. No text recognition involved, we simply save that as an image. That idea got stuck. Why? With that option we could be addressing the problem the old school has with keystrokes. But, we would have again to give up on a solution that goes towards those topics I mentioned previously about efficiency and lower costs.

So, what is more important to you?
What is your take, convenience or efficiency?
Are you willing to give a try to the new iPad or any other new attempt/device created by the hardware industry?
What are your thoughts?

I look forward to your input, which will certainly guide software companies like ours.

Regards to you all,

Eduardo Almeida
EasyMedFile.com

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Permalink Reply by Jared Houck on February 1, 2010 at 3:19pm

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.

I've listed another 10 reasons the current iPad will not be significantly deployed in h... if you have the time.

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Permalink Reply by John Meredith on February 3, 2010 at 7:16am

Agreed. Load of hot air at the moment and only time will tell. The Citrix angle is interesting though, but I still cannot see them being deployed in the UK NHS...ever.

Jared Houck said:

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.

I've listed another 10 reasons the current iPad will not be significantly deployed in h... if you have the time.

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Permalink Reply by Jared Houck on February 3, 2010 at 7:25am

Why thank you John. You are both a gentleman and a scholar.
JH

John Meredith said:

Agreed. Load of hot air at the moment and only time will tell. The Citrix angle is interesting though, but I still cannot see them being deployed in the UK NHS...ever.

Jared Houck said:

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.

I've listed another 10 reasons the current iPad will not be significantly deployed in h... if you have the time.

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Permalink Reply by Eduardo Almeida on February 3, 2010 at 8:46am

Have you guys seen this one?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20000034-264.html?tag=nl.e703
Now it is Google's time to present its Tablet OS.

Enjoy,

Eduardo Almeida
EasyMedFile.com

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Permalink Reply by Chris Paton on February 3, 2010 at 10:03am

Interesting. Looks like there might be a new Google vs Apple rivalry brewing - which can only be good for us!

Eric Schmidt hinted at this at Davos:

His opinion of the iPad? He never commented on other companies. Though he couldn't quite resist a lateral jab: "You might want to tell me the difference between a large phone and a tablet." Beam.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/29/google-davos-ru...

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Permalink Reply by Chris Paton on April 27, 2010 at 1:51am

Interesting article from PC World:

Just like the iPhone, Apple's iPad is a consumer device but also a tempting purchase for many business users. And the business case for the iPad may be nowhere as clear as it is in healthcare, a multi-billion dollar industry and one of the world's largest consumers of information technology.

Nick Volosin, director of technical services at Kaweah Delta Health Care District in Visalia, Calif., immediately saw the potential of putting the iPad in the hands of healthcare workers, who use a variety of medical imaging applications, are often moving from location to location, and don't want to be tethered to a device with poor battery life. Volosin bought three iPads for testing and plans to deploy more than 100 within the next two months or so.

iPad as virtual desktop? Citrix says yes

In addition to usual office applications such as e-mail, health care workers will use the iPads to look at X-ray images, EKG results and various other patient monitoring programs, all delivered using Citrix virtual desktop and application delivery software.

"Everywhere we go, it definitely has a wow factor," Volosin says. But more importantly, the iPad can replace the laptop for many employees, particularly home healthcare and hospice workers, and offer a 10-hour battery life. For Kaweah, the iPad will boost efficiency simply by eliminating time wasted turning laptops on and off and charging batteries between appointments.

While a consumer might hem and haw about whether the $500 iPad is worth the price, Volosin views it as a reasonable cost compared to standard laptops. While the iPad might cost more than a thin client, the $500 is affordable compared to some specialized touchscreen tablets used by hospitals, which might cost $3,000 each, he says.

While the three iPads purchased by Volosin are only being used for testing and demonstrations at the moment, about 20 doctors at Kaweah have purchased their own, including Kidney Specialist Dr. Roger Haley.

"This is going to make my day easier and patient safety better," Haley said during an interview with a local ABC news station. "Now, I don't have to find a workstation to do what I need to do; I do it right there, right then, right now."

http://www.pcworld.com/article/194655/iPad_Hospitals.html?tk=rss_news

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Permalink Reply by Alan Shortt on April 27, 2010 at 3:02am

yes very interesting

excuse the lack of technical know-how but would it be relatively simple (and secure) to log into your GP clinical system using citrix or similar?

presumably viewing or data entry would not be optimised for the ipad but would be possible ?

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Permalink Reply by Chris Paton on April 28, 2010 at 12:23pm

I don't see why not although I think that Citrix is usually used for secure access in fairly large organisations. It's used in a number of hospitals here in NZ for accessing applications over a secure network.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Paton on May 1, 2010 at 9:24pm

Hi Alan - I've just uploaded a video about Citrix on the iPad:

http://www.healthinformaticsforum.com/video/citrix-receiver-for-ipad

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Permalink Reply by Nathaniel Flick on May 8, 2010 at 4:01pm

I think just like the iPhone even the naysayers will look at the iPad and wonder what they ever did without it. It's perfect for the medical space as long as CCD is adopted by EHR/EMR software and there's open sharing of patient information.

If not, even with the iPad we're back to sending information back and forth and losing most benefits that EMR/EHR software can bring.

Agree with you, Chris, that web-based medical software is platform-agnostic. Can be used on both Macs and PC's so this is a moot argument. But, still, there's a lot that needs to be done to make medical software usable. I know from personal experience at my last job (big medical software company here in New Zealand) that this is far from easy.

Great thread!

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