The iPad Makes the Hospital Rounds: Report From a Busy Week on the Wards - Part 1

This article originally appeared online at iMedicalApps.com, part of the HCPLive Network.

Recently, we had the chance to check in with Dr. Henry Feldman. He had posted a detailed summary of his experiences using the iPad as his main interface while rotating on service for a week as a hospitalist at Beth Israel Deaconess hospital (BIDMC) in Boston. Dr. Feldman is also Chief Information Architect for the Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians. His report was published on Dr. John Halamka’s great blog “Life as a Healthcare CIO” on June 11.

In part 1, we summarize his initial report, which was enthusiastic on several important fronts. The summary of the following report includes his experience with the hospital wireless networks, using his hospital’s electronic health record system, interacting with patients using the iPad and how the battery life fared with clinical use. Later, in part 2, we will post an interview with Dr. Feldman to get more detail on his experiences.

Most important, was that he had a nearly seamless experience accessing his hospital clinical applications wirelessly. He wrote:

"The secure wireless network handoff was amazing. As I roved around it was seamless (there is a slight dead zone on 11 Reisman as there has been for years) and the best example is that I would use the elevator ride to catch up on news/tech websites, and every time the elevator doors would open it would reconnect and download some more prior to the door closing."

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