Apple’s iPad will probably be a big hit with many people with its nice interface for browsing the net, reading magazines, viewing photos and videos, and running innumerable Apple iPhone style apps.

But I must agree with the results of this little study from Software Advice which seems to indicate that whilst ED doctors are wanting a tablet style point of care computing tool to make their data entry and patient management more efficient, unfortunately the iPad won’t cut it for a number of reasons including:

• resistance to dust and liquids for disinfecting
• user authentication such as fingerprint or RFID
• barcode reader for patient identification
• integrated camera or at least an SD card reader transfer photos from a camera for improved documentation
• voice to text dictation
• ability to run hospital software – almost no enterprise-wide medical software will run on Apple iPhone operating system

We will have to wait a few more years yet before an ideal tablet hits the medical market.