iPads and iPhones are quite popular with clinicians. They're also becoming increasingly popular with hospitals, but uptake hasn't been as rapid as some pundits had predicted. Here's some reasons why you don't find iPads in the hands of clinicians at every hospital as of yet.
1. Balky interface
Getting an EMR with an iPad-specific interface is a lot harder than it sounds, and the cobbled-together user interfaces for PC-dedicated products can be balky. And balky interfaces, of course, are the last thing a doctor needs when he or she is trying to document care in an equally balky EMR.
2. Cost
While an Android tablet doesn't come for free, it's certainly cheaper than the iPad, which comes at a hefty pricetag that can be as much as double that of a completely serviceable Android rival. To date, I'd argue, Apple hasn't made a credible iPad claim that backs up spending that much more. (But if you want to see why one hospital went ahead anyway, look here.)
3. Network support
If clinicians are going to rely on an iPad to do their daily work, the Wi-Fi that keeps them connected to the world had better be very reliable. But in far too many hospitals, network engineers are still working at providing a Wi-Fi network that doesn't have a host of dead spots. Who wants to be carrying a tablet on rounds and having to reconnect to the web repeatedly while you work?
4. Workflow issues
Hospitals are having enough trouble integrating relatively simple laptops—and the EMR they access—into their daily workflow. With iPads lacking features possessed by the most basic laptop (such as a static, easy to use "real" keyboard), adding them to the mix could force hospitals to create a whole new set of workarounds. Need I say that fresh workarounds aren't an attractive idea?
5. Lack of resources
Hospital IT leaders are already up to their eyebrows and beyond with technical issues to address, including but not limited to EMR care and maintenance and the massive shift to ICD-10 coding. If CIOs have money and resources right now, most will be focusing them in these areas, not making a multimillion-dollar iPad buy.
Despite these disparaging words, I believe that iPads will eventually be standard gear for clinicians in hospitals, as their underlying capabilities are well worth the investment. But until the vendors offer iPad-native EMR interfaces, and hospital IT leaders have a chance to catch their breath, I think we'll have to wait to see full-scale iPad integration in most hospitals.
P.S. If you want to hear a dissenting view on this subject, look at this Forbes article, in which a (name redacted) CIO says that iPads generated a return on his investment within nine days.
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