With a 9.7-inch multi-touch, high-def screen, a formidable processor and access to Apple's App Store--all packed into a 1/2-inch-thick frame--the wireless iPad is one slick, smartly priced addition to Apple's line-up. But while Apple has won the hearts and minds of many a physician, the company still has a lot of ground to cover if it wants to lay claim to the healthcare enterprise.
The buzz coming out of CES a few weeks back seriously favored tablets, but as The San Francisco Chronicle recently pointed out, hospitals up until now haven't really been sold on them.
For example, El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Calif., began working on convertible tablet computers in 2003, but unloaded them last year after moving into a new building with computers in every patient room. The decision was made after workers soured on the tablets--which included a full keyboard--because of their bulk, short battery life and screens that weren't always easy to read. Now, Cheryl Reinking, thinks the iPad is promising enough to make the hospital consider a move back to tablets. She told The Chronicle the iPads could be valuable for doctors moving around the hospital.
She makes a fair point, but do physicians really want to be toting around a 10-inch tablet all day, every day when much of the functionality the iPad offers--in its current form--is already available via their other mobile devices? And what about data security? What about controlling the spread of MRSA and other infections? Isn't that why we have mobile clinical assistants?
In fairness, we have to remember that the iPad won't even be released until the spring, and it's targeting a wide array of users with the version we've seen thus far.
Healthcare users who are interested in the iPad should keep an eye on the OS upgrades. While it was reported previously that Apple was getting ready to unveil iPhone OS 4.0, there will apparently be a version released before then: the proto-type Apple iPad units that were being shown off last week were running iPhone OS 3.2.
Although based on unconfirmed sources, Brighthand.com reports: "Developers with early access to version 3.2 have found code that will allow devices running it to make and receive video calls, as well as switch between a front-facing and rear-facing camera." While the iPad we've seen doesn't have a camera--and apparently robust multi-tasking is not going to be a part of OS 3.2--we can probably expect these functionalities to become available a generation or two down the road, at which point we could indeed have a more meaningful contender for healthcare settings.
