The Dotcom era is over. Customers are no longer snapping up the latest
technical gadgets just because they are new. No longer are they uncritically
upgrading to the next version of software. And no longer are they purchasing
products and services without an understanding of how they benefit the bottom
line and fit into overall business objectives. Profits are down within the
computer industry, and efforts are underway to find new revenue streams and
invigorate old ones.
Health care represents a vast opportunity. As the Wall Street Journal
reported on January 22, 2003, "Health care remains the only major American
industry that has never fully embraced information technology or automated its most basic processes." But now, various forces are at work within the medical community that have intensified the interest in information technology. These include threats to patient safety from the inaccuracies inevitable in all aspects of health care delivery, concerns over patient privacy, the need for accurate outcome-analysis tools for medical treatment strategies, and procedural inefficiencies that are fueling a cost crisis. In addition, there are demands from legislative initiatives such as the new Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), reporting requirements of insurance companies, and the need to empower the patients themselves with information about their own health care. The challenge is getting the right information to the right person at the right time.
What we will see in the near term is an intensifying effort to connect mobile front-end devices to back-end servers that hold large stores of medical and administrative data. Pocket PCs, Microsoft Smartphones, Pocket PC Phone Editions, and XP Tablet PCs will play a central role. What follows is a discussion of how we think these and other new products will fit into health care information technology strategies. Central to this discussion will be the contention that no one mobile device can serve the needs of all parties. An array of devices properly supported by computer technical staff and integrated
with the hospital's existing and emerging central data systems is best for
improving hospital data functions.
Microsoft Smartphone
The Importance of Personal Digital Assistants and Data-Capable Cellular Phones
Typically, health care providers use stationary terminals distributed throughout the hospital to access information from database servers. Since the terminals stay in place, information is not available at the point-of-care where it will do the most good. Also, data must be entered twice. Such inefficiencies drive up costs and reduce the time spent in patient care. Electronic Data Systems followed nurses during their workday to see how they spent their time. Ten percent was spent on walking, 17% on documentation and administration, and
just 33% on patient care. Many of their activities could be automated with the new mobile devices. Costs could be reduced, patients' health care enhanced, and productivity improved (www.eds.ch/en/industries/healthcare/index.asp?NewsID=203&Keyword=).
The Microsoft Smartphone and the Pocket PC Phone Edition
There is a new class of cell phones that offers not only voice but data capabilities. It is the result of adding PDA functions to the cell phone minus the touch screen to enhance durability. These phones are variously known as data-capable, Web-enabled, or "smart" phones. The Microsoft Smartphone is an example. It has data capabilities and the familiar Windows interface. Data services are generally charged separately and are in addition to the usual fees for cell phone use. One notable exception is Sprint PCS. With most American Sprint plans, unlimited data is free. (See "Sprint/Toshiba 2032 Pocket PC +
phone," Pocket PC, March 2003, p. 29-30.) Cell phones with data
capabilities are marketed to mobile phone users who want some database and
Internet capabilities.
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