Will Apple iPad be Adopted as The Next Clinical Tablet?

The Apple iPad has finally been introduced, and thoughts about its potential future in medicine are abound. The device is light and probably straightforward to use, making it perfect for EMR access and for viewing radiological images. From our point of view, the fact that the iPad is likely not designed to be splash-proof is a big problem for a clinical environment. There are also other downsides of the device, such as a lack of camera and microphone for communications, absence of standard USB ports or even a card reader, the fact that the pad may not work with some examination and surgical gloves, and the battery cannot be swapped in the device. Moreover, it’s not clear if hospitals or clinician offices would want to adopt a platform based on the locked down iPhone operating system. However, iPAD’s size, price, and an intuitive interface may in the end win over the downsides to bring the iPad to the medical world.
More thoughts from Bertalan Meskó: Apple iPad in Healthcare: Pros and Cons…
HCPlive: Apple’s iPad an Impressive Product in Need of Tweaking for Healthcare Success…
Blaine Warkentine: 10 Commandments of Success for the iPad in Healthcare…
iMedicalApps: Five Lessons Apple must learn from current Healthcare Tablets…
Richard Stefanacci: iPad Touches Electronic Medical Records Adoption…
Sacramento Bee: iPad, anyone? Hospitals looking at the mobile device…
MacTalk: iPad use in the Medical Field…
Related: CoActiv Medical introduces new EXAM-PACS touch screen image viewing for Apple iPad…