Medicine, technology, and the iPad

This is being republished from MobileHealthComputing.com

In the Washington Post, you may have caught the article titled, "With the iPad, Apple may just revolutionize medicine." How will the iPad revolutionize medicine? This weekend, I saw a few medical students attending the Association of MD/MBA Programs 8th Annual Conference and at least two students were taking notes on the iPad.

So, how will this mobile device revolutionize medicine? If the iPad becomes ubiquitous in the hospital setting and if health care providers are using this mobile device to access patient data and imaging studies, then the small and light iPad could improve efficiencies in many aspects. However, we know that the iPad is not a "rugged" device, so will we see other versions that are specifically designed for the health care environment? We've seen several manufacturers create Mobile Clinical Assistants like the Motion C5 and the Panasonic Toughbook H1. These devices are designed for inpatient settings, so will we see a "clinical" version of the iPad emerge soon? The addition of a silicon sleeve won't protect it from other common hospital forces like splashes, drops, and germs.

The iPad has been engineered for the consumer market, but let's see what Apple comes up with for the health care industry.