iPads Provide Better Patient Care

Although electronic health records can result in more time spent at computer workstations rather than patients’ beds, the use of an iPad increased efficiency and provided better patient care, researchers found. When 115 internal medicine residents were given Apple iPads, almost three-quarters of them reported the device saved them an hour a day. In addition, nearly two-thirds of the hospital staff credited the iPad with stemming patient care delays. They found that iPad use resulted in significantly more orders being placed in the first two hours of admission. Interestingly, 56% of residents said having iPads allowed them to attend more conferences. “It seems that personal mobile computing can help improve perceived and actual resident efficiency in an era of increasing work compression,” the investigators concluded. Archives of Internal Medicine. March 12, 2012 Bhakti Patel, MD