The iPad Could Transform Medicine

[iDan]

The Washington Post has a really great article today looking at what sort of impact the iPad might have on medicine. The writer, Martha C. White, speculates on how Steve Jobs probably spent a quite a bit of time thinking about the iPad when he was lying in his hospital bed last year during his liver transplant, possibly wishing he could go online without bothering to fire up his laptop, or maybe even watch a dvd from his hospital bed. Can it be just coincidence that reading in bed, surfing the net in bed and watching movies in bed are all things that the iPad has made much easier? Possibly not. But that’s just the tip of the medical iceberg where the iPad’s impact is concerned, because, White says, the medical profession in general seems to be very excited at the iPad’s potential to revolutionise many different aspects of health care.

White says that among other things, the iPad could be responsible for massive savings within the medical world, as it could aid interconnectivity and communication between medical facilities. And as White points out, the iPad’s large, bright screen is ideal for displaying X-rays and MRI’s for example, and is of course even more portable than a laptop, therefore so much easier for doctors to carry around with them. It could even act as an interactive chart at the foot of the bed, or have special apps adapted for hospital use, and so on. The possibilities really are endless.

By Maura Sutton, iPadForums.net
[Source: www.washingtonpost.com]

 

[DG~X]

Wow, but the hospitals shouldn't spend money on ipad is you know what i mean.

 

[Seadog]

Not to brag, but I remember posting a similar thought a whie back

 

[DavidNM]

Among the many things that I do - one of them is being a consultant to medical practices pertaining to technology, EMR software and implementation, etc. My wife is a Doc and I've worked with several Physicians offices (including our own) integrating technology into the workplace.

The iPad (not right away - probably version 2) will make phenomenal changes to physician workflow. There's still some things to work out from a connectivity and technology aspect with the different EMR programs out there - but it's coming - and soon.

 

[Dorisking3]

iPad is fabulous. Not only medicine, but also the catering, tourism, etc. could be transformed by it. Imagine that people in restaurant will just tap on the menu which is pre built in the iPad and then can be served the dish.

 

[Seadog]

Actually restaurants may find a projection device being marketed as a better alternative. A pico projector casts a menu on the table and infrared sensors detect what items you select. I would see the iPad as replacement for the order pad that waitresses use now, but it could also be said that the iPod Touch would be easier to carry. In either case, it would allow the waitress to wifi the order to the kitchen without leaving her tables.

 

[Thomaspin]

Here's the correct link: washingtonpost.com

 

[Dorisking3]

Actually restaurants may find a projection device being marketed as a better alternative. A pico projector casts a menu on the table and infrared sensors detect what items you select. I would see the iPad as replacement for the order pad that waitresses use now, but it could also be said that the iPod Touch would be easier to carry. In either case, it would allow the waitress to wifi the order to the kitchen without leaving her tables.

Oh yeah, you made the finishing point. To wifi the order to the kitchen, fantastic~~I think Jobs should come to this thread to collect more marketing info. so he might expand the hot sale.

 

[Temp40]

I can see many ways of how the iPad can benefit hospitals, it's cheaper and more portable than a laptop and probably hospitals that buy in bulk will get great discounts too.

 

[DavidNM]

I can see many ways of how the iPad can benefit hospitals, it's cheaper and more portable than a laptop and probably hospitals that buy in bulk will get great discounts too.

Yea but there's a lot more there than just cost and portability. The first mountain you'll have to climb is the IT department and their desire to put the biggest, cheapest, easiest to fix monolithic piece of crap in front of the Docs. Then there's security - HIPPA secure guidelines (need to fingerprint recognition or voice recognition for log-in authorization). Then there's the question as to whether or not you can 'nuke' the contents should the little thing get stolen (like a Blackberry).

Don't get me wrong - these aren't excuses - but challenges that we'll face trying to drag Ogg and Zogg across the technology finish line.

 

[lpdiazmd]

Anesthesiology on board

My group(a group of anesthesiologist in the NE USA) are already looking at software to streamline billing, QA, and anesthesia records using a "tablet" computer of some sort... Electronic record keeping is the future of medicine, and it wouldn't surprise if the ipad was somehow involved.

 

[stever]

Many hospitals already ARE making heavy use of PDAs / Smartphones integrated into their services.
You find the next nurse or person you talk to as you go down the hall already has the information in their hands that you gave to the people in the last room.
IPads have a lot of potential in medical use.



The biggest hurdle will be a convenient protective Flip-cover and shoulderstrap type of carrier.

The advantages that the PDA/Phone devices have, is that they can be instantly stuffed in the pockets of your scrubs, totally out of the way of things you need to be doing.
Their disadvantage is the tiny screen.
.