While the media will be focused today on Apple’s Tablet announcement,  I’d like to remind HealthBlog readers that there’s nothing new about Tablet devices.  I have been evangelizing the use of Tablet PCs in health for nearly a decade.  And over the last several years, particularly with the release of Windows Vista and now Windows 7, the Tablet PC value proposition for healthcare providers just gets better and better.

First of all, the devices themselves are better.  And, healthcare providers have more choices than ever before (I have four Tablet PCs on my desk right now).  There are excellent Tablets available from most major manufacturers including ones made expressly for clinicians such as the devices offered by Motion Computing, Panasonic, Tablet Kiosk and other vendors.

Of course, it’s not really so much about the device as it is what you can do with it.  First and foremost, these are full-function computing and productivity solutions (unlike that shiny new Apple).  Tablet PCs more closely mimic the familiar patient chart.  They can be used, digital pen in hand, without feeling intrusive in the physician-patient encounter.  They accommodate multi-modal data input including keyboard (when docked), digital inking, point and click, voice and even touch including multi-touch with Windows 7.  The inherent speech engine in Windows Vista and Windows 7 is so good, it is even possible to do excellent speech recognition dictation if you are willing to put in a little effort up front.  When connected wirelessly to a corporate network or the Internet, Tablet PCs provide instant access to the information you need, when and where you need it.  They can also run all of the other applications you might want to use in your office or home.

Read more: http://blogs.msdn.com/healthblog/archive/2010/01/27/a-right-sized-emr-tablet-pc-microsoft-office-onenote.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+msdn%2Fhealthblog+%28HealthBlog%29