Absolute Beginners Guide to Tablet PCs

The doctor is constantly moving around her office and the hospital in which she works. Accessing patient information on her Tablet PC makes it easier to review case files regardless of her location.

Toolkit

• Convertible style Tablet PC This style of Tablet PC is ideal for high text demands.

• Bluetooth adapter This is necessary for data communication with other Bluetooth-enabled devices.

• Digital camera This can be used to capture pictures of patient issues, such as rashes and wounds.

• Noise-canceling headset Using this type of headset makes using the Tablet PC's speech-recognition features much easier.

• Dragon Naturally Speaking This program is perfect for higher-quality speech recognition and for its medical dictionary.

• Microsoft Office 2003 The doctor uses this to prepare documents and email.

• Mi-Forms This program is for data capture.

Value Proposition

The doctor likes the portability, speech input, pen annotation ability, and natural note taking that the Tablet PC provides. Indeed, using the Tablet PC can save the doctor several hours a week, which can then be spent on other cases. Speech recognition can reduce staff requirements and the time needed to transcribe voice recordings. Pen annotation is often faster and more meaningful than using a keyboard. Windows Journal and InfoPath enable the doctor to take notes naturally and unobtrusively.

Day in the Life

The doctor arrives at her office at 7:30. Her Tablet PC is on her desk, where it synchronizes with the database server and uploads patient information for the day. Throughout the day, the Tablet PC will synchronize with the custom software in the hospital's database to ensure that the doctor always has the most current information, and to ensure that the server has the latest information from the doctor's Tablet PC.

After checking her case load, she looks up some information about an obscure disease that she thinks one of her patients may have contracted. Searching through the hospital's medical reference tools online, she finds that her initial diagnosis was correct, and makes a note on the patient's chart on her Tablet PC.

At 8:00, she picks up her Tablet PC and heads for her first patient. Because the Tablet PC has all the patient information she needs, and because the Tablet PC is tied to her calendar, the appropriate information automatically appears on the Tablet PC's screen when the doctor walks to the patient's room. She refers to her Tablet PC and the Mi-Forms application displayed there instead of picking up a clipboard. She talks with her patient and takes pen-based notes directly in Mi-Forms. She takes a picture of an infected area on the patient, sending the image directly to the patient's file for reference. When she is finished with the patient, the doctor makes medication notes on the Mi-Forms application, which automatically triggers a process for medication retrieval and delivery.

Every person who comes in contact with the patient records information on the patient's chart in the Mi-Forms application. This ensures that all actions are documented, and that some mistakes can be caught before they become problems (such as medications that conflict with a patient's allergy being flagged for doctor's review before processing). Any such mistakes caught will be brought to the doctor's attention on the Tablet PC. The primary physician for a patient will always be notified of activities and changes related to that patient.

Because the Tablet PC is in constant communication with the hospital's central servers, the doctor is always notified of changes immediately. The doctor's personal schedule is in the server, which allows scheduling experts to make appropriate adjustments to schedules based on patient needs and physician case loads. The Tablet PC allows everyone to stay in communication, and reduces miscommunication and patient record problems.

Summary of Benefits