The iPad: Not a healthcare-grade device?
Let’s not kid ourselves: Apple did not create the iPad for healthcare professionals. Might it still be of use to the healthcare industry? Almost everyone, including its competitors, agree that it will.“The iPad is a content consumption device that will enable doctors to review images, including zooming in on and annotating x-rays,” Mike Stinson, Motion Computing’s VP of Marketing told MobiHealthNews. “I don’t think the iPad is a real data acquisition device… So, the iPad will be in the mix and will become part of the workflow but it won’t replace slates like [Motion's C5] in the same way that [Motion's slates] haven’t replaced desktops.”What else is the iPad missing? In which other ways does it fall short for healthcare professionals? Here are a few common complaints or observations about the iPad’s hangups for HC workers:
- The iPad has no camera, an important feature for any connected health tablet.
- Despite the iPad’s rather impressive “up to” 10 hours of battery life, some have lamented Apple’s continued use of non-swappable batteries. Most tablets targeting the healthcare environment boast swappable batteries so clinicians can continue using them without waiting for a charge.
- Industry onlookers have argued that the iPad’s 9.7 inch screen is not quite big enough for use with intensive medical applications.
- Some people believe that the iPad is perhaps too big for many clinicians who would prefer a device that fits snugly into their pockets.
- The iPad is not ruggedized and its screen will likely break if dropped. Many healthcare tablets claim to be drop resistant from about three feet.
- The iPad’s inability to multi-task, meaning it can’t run more than one application at once is another big shortcoming that might hamper uptake for healthcare workers.
- Most healthcare tablets have barcode scanners — the iPad does not.
- Most healthcare tablets are easily disinfected, water-proof and dust resistant. The iPad does not appear to address any of those issues.
- As another maker of healthcare tablets put it:
- “First and foremost the iPad is a consumer device — that is the big thing,” Panasonic’s Senior Developer Greg Davidson told MobiHealthNews. “Doctors say it’s what they want, but when they go and talk to their IT departments and are told ‘it’s not running the right operating system;’ ‘it’s not easily sanitizable;’ ‘it doesn’t have the ports we need;’ or ‘it doesn’t run the particular apps we need.’”
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