The upcoming
Surface tablets have Windows inside, and that makes them a perfect fit for
healthcare providers looking to upgrade their medical practices.
Healthcare has always been an industry ripe for using
tablets. Workers in healthcare are constantly flitting around the office, and
having constant access to the medical practice's network is a big benefit. The
highly portable Surface tablets on the way from Microsoft could revolutionize
these offices, if developers jump on the Metro bandwagon.
I have recently visited two medical practices that are
entrenched in the tablet philosophy. The two offices are very different, but
have each settled on the old Tablet PC to mobilize the workers providing
healthcare.
These offices are using the old convertible notebook with
Windows 7, tablets that can swivel the screen to expose a full laptop. The
workers carry them all day, entering pertinent information at each stop which
is instantly updated to the patient's record.
In one practice the nurses and physician assistants use
old HP Tablet PCs, while the doctors carry Motion slate Tablet PCs. The nurses
I interviewed always use the HPs in laptop mode as they find typing easier to
enter information on the run.
The doctors use a pen with the Motion, primarily to
access information in the patient record when they come in for the examination.
The two doctors I spoke with hated having to use the pen to manipulate the
interface.
These practices are a perfect fit for the Surface
tablets. The keyboard covers can be used by those who are more comfortable with
typing for data entry, and the touch tablet for those like the doctors who just
need to tap and access information.
What needs to happen to get these healthcare providers
rolled over to the better solution is for the developers behind the practice
management software in use to convert it to the Metro interface for the
Surface. It might take a fair bit of work to make the proper conversion, but
the target market is huge and flush with funds.
I suspect in a year or two we might see a lot of Surface
tablets when we visit the doctor. It's a case of the perfect tool for the job,
with everyone winning. All day battery life and a computer that is easy to
carry for extended periods. Throw Windows into the mix and it's almost perfect.
If I had a company with medical practice software, I
would divert every resource to getting it perfected for Windows Pro/RT tablets.
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