As a Wound Care Certified Nurse, I often have to educate patients about their health conditions. Additionally there is an EMR task involved. The portability and interface is simplistic and functional. We are only seeing the beginning possibilities at this time. I can’t wait to develop applications for this interface. It makes sense.

The iPad has the potential to be revolutionary in health care but it must allow verbal dictation (voice-to-text) for note taking and figure out an equivalent touch experience for one-handed stylus data input. Right now the iPad needs to be placed down on something to type – you can’t hold it in one hand and write on it like you can with a stylus. Also, one-handed portability is a concern. The iPad would need a rubberized back (perhaps a case could solve this) and/or a contoured body for better ergonomics holding it.

Otherwise, it would be hard to justify replacing the existing wall-mounted flat panel LCD screens and keyboard shelf with an iPad and keyboard dock.

“Better is the enemy of good enough” – Voltaire (misquoted)

I disagree. Handwritten notes, whether with pen and paper or with the iPad, are incredibly tedious due to current documentation and liability concerns.

The best and most efficient system to date is for the doc to sit down in front of the patient, maintain eye contact, and concentrate 100% on what the patient says. Aside from brief scribbles on a scrap of paper, the doc relies on his ability to remember. After the visit is over, the doc immediately dictates a note, talking a blue streak that can be understood by a trained transcriptionist, again focussing only on this one task.

Any system that requires ANY degree of data entry in the chart by the doc is a step backwards: it inevitably means less time and attention for the patient.

Since many sites will be adopting EMR’s in the near future, it is perhaps the right tool at the right time. As indicated in one comment, some EMR vendors seem to believe that it will be a good tool for use with their software. With Apple’s penchant for hitting “home runs” consistently with their product line, I think that it will probably have a positive impact on providing better healthcare and improve the bottom line for the provider.

I think we’re actually missing the point here in viewing this as a mere extension of current computing trends. Most patients hate it when the doctor is merely watching a screen and typing while talking to them, and few doctors can do it at speed. What was the ‘gold standard’ of patient communication? The pad and pen. Sit down, face the patient, and write your notes on a pad of paper. Unfortunately, that does not lend itself to EMR.

Well the iPad now gives us a way to do so. Hand-writing recognition software has been getting better and better, and with a market incentive like the iPad spurring innovation, we can reasonably expect it to be acceptably accurate (99%) within a few years. Take the iPad and a stylus, scan in the paper forms we’re all used to using (along with a box for freehand notes! what a concept) and voila, we’re back to the good old days while simultaneously being EMR compliant and tethered to the mainframe!

Words can’t express how my excitement (and that of the patients I’ve discussed this with).

But hey, I was an HDDVD early adopter, so what do I know?