The LS800 version, with its 8.4-inch screen, is $200 less. The Motion Tablet LE 1600 with a 12-inch screen starts at $1,900. Screen size, weight, and memory capacity dictate a tablet PC's price. "We're beginning to test scanning chart images so our physicians and patients can see them on the wireless tablet," McCallister says, noting that the doctors in his practice already use the Motion Tablet PC to access patient files and send and receive e-mail. Tablets also give physicians the ability to connect to their desktop computers, servers, or EMRs. Using a stylus, doctors can update patient files, schedule appointments, and even illustrate procedures on the screen for patients. Tablets, which also support e-prescribing, provide easy access to data, such as patient charts and test results, in the exam room or on the road. John McCallister, director of information technology for Huntington Internal Medicine Group in West Virginia, says the highly portable technology has fast become an invaluable tool at hospitals and private practices across the country. Other PDAs that enable electronic prescribing include the Toshiba Pocket PC, Dell's Axim Pocket PC, and the ACER n30se. Nochomovitz says the 330 physicians at UHMP write "thousands" of e-prescriptions each month using Hewlett-Packard's iPAQ Pocket PC, a PDA that retails from $300 to $600. "Writing prescriptions by hand is more cumbersome, less convenient, and, frankly, less safe," UHMP's president affirms. He notes that 40 offices in his medical group are participating in a national study sponsored by the federal government on e-prescribing. "The use of PDAs for electronic prescribing is, I'd say, the most important advance in medical technology over the past couple of years," says Nochomovitz. Although PDAs entered the market as wireless personal organizers, they now include Web browsers, e-mail functionality, and wireless networking enabled by Bluetooth technology. Allscripts works on any Palm-based operating system, including the Palm TX Handheld PDA, which retails for around $230. Most e-prescription software, including Allscripts and iScribe, also allows physicians to review insurance coverage, check for potentially harmful drug interactions, and screen for drug allergies recorded in a patient's chart. A PDA's wireless hand-held technology allows doctors to access software that enables them to print clear, legible prescriptions at the point of service and even electronically send scripts to the pharmacy of the patient's choice. Of course, if the physician's handwriting is unclear, a patient's life is potentially endangered and a physician's career may be ruined as a result.įor safety reasons alone, Michael Nochomovitz, president and chief medical officer of University Hospitals Medical Practices (UHMP) in Cleveland, puts personal digital assistants (PDAs) that enable electronic prescribing at the top of his list of the most physician-friendly high-tech gadgets on today's market. Then the pharmacist - who may or may not screen the drug for possible dangerous interactions with other drugs the patient is already taking and who may or may not check if a patient's insurance covers the drug - fills the order. The patient then hand-delivers that piece of paper to a local pharmacy. The physician scribbles the name and dosage of a medication on a paper prescription pad. By all accounts, prescribing a drug remains one of the most inefficient processes within the doctor-patient relationship.
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