Encountering Tablet PCs in the wild is becoming a daily event. The following video from Motion Computing shows staff at the Salford Royal Hospital in the UK using the Motion C5 MCA on their daily rounds.

It is a very interesting demonstration of the efficiencies that can be gained by adopting Tablet PCs.

They key is that Tablet PCs and MCAs can be easily taken into places where laptops and netbooks don’t fit well – where you don’t have the convenience of a flat surface and a chair to use.

Whether it be at a patient bedside or in a panel beaters workshop, Tablet PCs like the Motion C5 MCA can help to make your business far more efficient. The make their investment back many times over… and very quickly too!

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…