iPad EMR & Tablet PC EMR Software

Although consumer awareness of tablet devices has skyrocketed since Apple’s release of the iPad in April 2010, in medical practices they are nothing new. Physicians have been using tablet PCs in their offices for over a decade, because of the efficiency they add to the workflow without compromising the patient experience. The following guide provides an overview of electronic medical record (EMR) software--or electronic health record (EHR) software--for your PDA or PC to help a buyer navigate the landscape.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

What is Tablet PC EMR Software?
Tablet EMR Features
What Type of Tablet EMR Buyer Are You?
The Tablet EMR Vendor Landscape

Market Trends You Should Understand
Benefits & Potential Issues
Costs & Return on Investment

What is Tablet PC EMR Software?

Designed to give physicians access to patient records wherever and whenever they need it, EMRs for PDAs, tablet PCs, iPads and Android tablets provide greater flexibility and usability than desktop systems. They allow the physician to carry all patient data with them, entering information at the point of care and immediately sending prescriptions and lab information as necessary.

Tablet EMR Features

HIPAA compliance is a huge issue for tablet PCs. In addition, consider some of the following features:

What Type of Tablet EMR Buyer Are You?

Most EMR buyers can be classified by the following criteria:

• Size.A solo practice has different needs than a large ambulatory care facility with 100+ providers. Though both are looking to eliminate paperwork and improve efficiency, the ability to transfer information and store tens of thousands of patient records is an expense small practices don’t need to incur.
• Medical specialty. Most EMR vendors customize their EMRs to each medical specialist. As a result, the systems facilitate a doctor’s workflow much better than a generic system that just stores basic information. This is especially useful for a tablet user documenting data at the point of care. Since MDs often have different needs than other specialists (PhDs, PsyDs, PTs, etc.), this is one way of delineating these practices. And if you have multiple specialties within a single office, you’ll likely want a system that maintains compatibility through all those specialties.
• Facility type. Hospitals and acute care centers need to manage details like patient beds, shifts, and physician rounds, which ambulatory care facilities don’t. Although both will want to carry information with them, ensure that the EMR you select has the data you’ll need.

The Web-Based EMR Vendor Landscape

While the EMR landscape is highly fragmented and may at first appear confusing, the available solutions are differentiated by their appeal to the different buyer types.

Market Trends You Should Understand

• Changing Tablet Technology. The biggest issue to consider when purchasing a tablet EMR is the battle between software and hardware. Although the iPad’s market share is dominating the overall tablet PC market, most EMR vendors aren’t meeting the obvious demand. Therefore, buyers have to choose between the handful of EMRs that have really geared their system toward the iPad, or a different brand of tablet PC with an EMR that may better fit their needs. It’s worth noting that the iPad isn’t necessarily the best tablet out there for a physician, especially if you’re not taking it home with you and using it for consumer, as well as professional purposes. That being said, most of the big players in the EMR market do have iPad EMR or iPad EHR apps in the works, so if this is important to you, it’s a good question to ask when selecting your software – the perfect combination may be available just a few months down the line.
• ONC-ATCB Certification. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act provides up to $44,000 in reimbursements for providers that make “meaningful use” of “certified” electronic health records. One thing to keep in mind when making your selection is whether or not the system is ONCHIT certified. Of course, you may find the perfect system that isn’t certified, but at a price where it doesn’t matter anywhere. It’s all about selecting the right tools for your practice.

Benefits & Potential Issues

EMR Software with support for personal digital assistants (PDAs) and tablet PCs can streamline workflow, improve office efficiency, and assist in personalizing the patient encounter. Specifically, the following are some of the benefits of these types of tools:

• Portability. Transferring to EMRs from paper records presents the issue of how the information gets entered into the paper record. Rather than having a separate computer in each room, a single tablet PC can be transported from one patient encounter to the next.
• Instant access to patient records and other information. A tablet PC can make a practice truly paperless, allowing the physician to take notes electronically from the very beginning of the patient encounter. And since the device is connected to the patient records database, the information for a patient can always be accessed instantly. Taking it a step further, a physician could use the PC to access medication databases and send prescriptions or lab requests electronically.
• Lack of intrusiveness. In many ways, a tablet PC mimics a patient chart – it’s small, it’s portable, and it allows you to take notes discreetly during the patient encounter. Although it may feel a little unusual at first, physicians and patients quickly get used to this form of note-taking, and it allows the physician to pay more attention to the patient.
• Reduced errors. Re-entry of data from printed records is a highly error-prone task. By taking the notes only once, errors associated with re-entering data are eliminated.

As mentioned above, hardware-software compatibility is a major issue: make sure that you’re getting the best EMR with the best tablet for your style of usage. Other issues to consider when selecting a tablet PC are primarily hardware related: What is the battery life? How fast is it? How durable? How strong is the network connection? How is the data transferred to and from your main database? Do you need it to dock to your other computers?

And of course, security is a major issue. Make sure that the tablet and the EMR software have HIPAA-compliant security to protect patient records, so that no sensitive data is compromised in the event the device gets lost or stolen.

Costs & Return on Investment

Obviously, adding a tablet PC to your EMR software purchase will increase your upfront costs by anywhere from $500–$2,500 or more, depending on the system you get. However, there is an obvious return on investment in the reduction of administrative time and improved efficiency.

Have an opinion on this guide? Email the authors. We appreciate the feedback.