Archive for March, 2009

Most GPs in Australia now use a computer with a practice management system like PracSoft and a system like Medical Director for reference, prescriptions and EMR. According to research published in Australian Doctor, our GPs are way ahead of other countries with computer use:

Computers are now used in 95% of practices, mainly for prescribing (83%) and billing (79.9%), although more than two-thirds of practices (68.8%) use computer-based medical records, according to the BEACH study of general practice activity in Australia 2003-04.

That compares with about 17% in the US (WSJ Article). However, some US practices are leading the world by adoption truly mobile systems so that they can spend more time with patients, and less time tapping away at a keyboard.

The following video from the Wall Street Journal follows a doctor from Ohio, USA making visits with his Tablet PC and EMR. This doctor is using a regular Tablet PC, not a At about the 2:50 mark the doctor swivels the screen and uses it as a tablet.

According to the doctor, he can review patient results and tests remotely, answer their questions, refill their medications.

The beauty of Tablet PC technology for patient interaction is that:

• There is no barrier between doctor and patient (you can see in the video that the Tablet PC screen is a barrier when used in laptop mode)
• It is easier to share information with the patient
• It can be more convenient for the doctor to write notes and annotate images
• It can create transparency which could foster a better relationship with doctor and patient.

The caveat here is that GPs must be confident with using this type of technology before using it with patients. According to the Australian Doctor article referenced earlier, if a doctor uses a computer but does not seem savvy with it, the patient may conclude the doctor is not only lacking in computer skills, but in clinical skills.

That said, a GP usually does not need to go to the extent of an MCA (Mobile Clinical Assistant) device. The best way for a GP to try out a Tablet PC may be a convertible Tablet such as the HP 2730p or the Lenovo X200t. As shown in the video, you can use a convertible as both a Tablet and a notebook.

If you’re pretty healthy you probably would not have noticed that Mobile Clinical  Assistants are gradually being deployed across Australian hospitals.

The MCA or Mobile Clinical Assistant is a type of Tablet PC that is specifically designed for the healthcare environment. It is a lightweight and portable slate Tablet PC that can be combined with software to enable bedside note taking, patient record retrieval, accurate treatment administration and faster response times.

The MCA is intended to replace more than the patient clip board. Just some of the applications for the MCA include:

• Clinical Documentation
• Practice Management
• Electronic Health Records
• Patient Education

Motion Computing launched the first MCA device in 2007. It was based on a “reference design” by Intel. Finally in 2009, a number of large tablet vendors have caught onto the MCA concept.

The new devices bring in dual hot swap battery setups and Intel Atom processors to increase battery life. There is now a good variety of hardware available, and competition in this sector will lead to further innovation.

All of the devices in the category include  ruggedized designs, disinfectable surfaces and integrated ergonomic carry handles.

Although they represent the new category of mobile devices called MCAs, they are in fact really 5th generation Tablet PCs. In that sense, they leverage the experience of vendors like Motion Computing who have been involved in Tablet PC technology for the last 7 years.

The adoption of these devices has been gradual due to the fact that this is a massive shift for healthcare. Healthcare practices usually have long standing and well functioning paper based systems, and it takes time to develop a digital solution to supplement or replace these.

Now that there are a number of hardware options available, there are 3 key elements needed to enable the widespread adoption of the MCA:

• Software to enable the shift
• Staff training and adoption
• Good hardware support

Much of this is already available. There are numerous software solutions across a wide range of healthcare specialties. Watch this space…

Motion Computing claim that their new J3400 has the best outdoor display on the market. That’s a big claim to make, so we had to check it out for ourselves.

Verdict: J3400 has the best outdoor display on the market.

How? Motion have adopted a technology called Hydis AFFS+ for the J3400. According to Motion, that creates a reflective and a transflective area in the display. So when you’re outside with the J3400, the sun is actually working for you, and not against!

Of course, the colour on the display do wash out when you’re in direct sun, but while other displays struggle, the J3400’s Ultraview Anywhere display is still extremely viewable.

What we found is that you do not have to have the display at full brightness to see the screen outside, and that allows you to significantly extend your operational battery life.

Example 1: J3400 compared to Toshiba M700 with anti-glare coating in direct sunlight.

Example 2: Compared to a gateway notebook PC:

These photos come from the comprehensive Rugged PC Review article. Here’s what they had to say about the J3400’s display:

“The J3400 display’s outdoor performance is simply superb. The perfect viewing angle from all directions means you never have to tilt and angle the tablet to see what’s on the screen. The display itself absolutely excels in eliminating unwanted reflection or diffusion. Where other displays appear matte or milky or are overcome with reflections, the J3400′s stays perfectly readable. In head-on, direct sunlight the display is still readable, here thanks to the inner reflectance of the Hydis LCD."

Conrad H. Blickenstorfer, Editor-in-Chief
RuggedPCReview – www.ruggedpcreview.com

Out tip: This is the biggest development in field computing since the Tablet PC came to market.

Motion J3400 is a really awesome step forward in field rugged Tablet PCs from Motion computing. We love it for 3 main reasons:

1. Amazing outdoor display – best available right now
2. Dual battery setup
3. 3G/Next G with GPS.

Cheek out our outdoor video review here:

When you build a Tablet PC for use in the field like the new Motion J3400, it has to be built rugged.

Motion independently tested the new J3400 to IP52 and MIL 810F operational ruggedness standards.

They also filmed the tests so that you can take a look for yourself!

MIL 810F Drop Test

IP5x Dust Ingress Test

IPx2 Water Resistance Test

So there you have it… a field ready rugged slate Tablet PC.

Motion launched the a new slate Tablet PC yesterday called the J3400. Since Motion Computing exclusively manufacture slate Tablets PCs you can bet it will be good.

This Tablet PC is well designed for the field user (i.e. anyone who needs to use a computer while standing or walking). With MIL 810F and IP52 ratings it is designed to go practically anywhere.

This category of Tablet notebooks made working outdoors possible, even in direct sunlight. The J3400 takes working outdoors even further with the best in the business combination Ultra View Anywhere display with Hydis AFFS+ technology. Basically that means the best and brightest…

You have to see the convertible keyboard option for your yourself, it is just awesome. The convertible keyboard on the LE1700 was good, but Motion have taken it way beyond that on the J3400.

We’ll have a closer look with a video review for you soon. For more on the J3400, visit our product page: Motion Computing J3400

The out of the box experience of multi-touch in Windows Vista will be limited to third party software at this stage, but Windows 7 takes multi-touch the whole nine yards.

The following demos from Gizmodo are of the HP TouchSmart desktop PC, but you can expect the same experience from the HP TouchSmart Tx2.

Windows 7 Touch and Multitouch on HP TouchSmart PC from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

As you can see, the multi-touch experience is built into the system from the ground up… it’s even in good ol’ paint.

Multitouch Air Hockey in Windows 7 on a TouchSmart PC from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

Air Hockey on a Tablet PC! Now that will be something special! We’re excited just thinking about the possibilities of multi-digit, multi-hand and multi-user interaction…

There is a lot of buzz in the air at the moment about the new HP Tx2, and I have to say that we are a little caught up in it. Check out the video below from HP to see why…

I’m patiently waiting for our demo machine to arrive (really keen). Once we have it in our hands, we will have a hands on video review for you…

If you want to dip your toe in the Tablet and UMPC waters, now is the right time. Every quarter we turn over our demo stock and we have a number of demo machines available.

Models currently available:

Motion LE1700 Slate Tablet PC

Intel Core 2 Duo Low Voltage 1.5Ghz
60Gb 1.8” Hard Drive
Windows XP Tablet Edition
View Anywhere Outdoor display
Wireless, fingerprint reader

Full one year warranty.

Accessories available include docking station and convertible keyboard. More details on our Motion LE1700 page.

Samsung Q1U-XP UMPC

Intel Atom 800Mhz
60Gb 1.8” Hard Drive
Windows XP Tablet Edition
2 cameras, Bluetooth, wireless, fingerprint reader.

Full one year warranty.

More details on our Samsung Q1 page.

Email us at info@tabletpc.com.au or call 03 9012 6602 to make an offer.

Ian Grayson’s Tech Check column in the Australian newspaper’s IT section featured the Toughbook CF-19.

Read the article “Rugged laptops built to take on the world” here.

For more information on the Toughbook CF-19 visit the Toughbook page on our website.