| Shawn Riley is an experienced IT Director, dedicated to identifying and implementing appropriate technology to enhance patient care and patient safety. We spoke with Shawn recently about his thoughts on the value of the Tablet PC for EHR implementations and usage at point of care. In his words, he feels it is imperative to "identify and implement appropriate technology to enhance patient care and patient safety." In the following interview Shawn shares his views and perspectives. |
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| Shawn believes the following criteria are critical when choosing the right technology for your mobile EHR system at point of care: |
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Flexible usage, and lightweight – for maximum mobility |
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Extended battery life |
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Dependable wireless either attached or built in |
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A large screen – for easy reading of medical records or images |
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Rugged construction – for your busy mobile workday |
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Keyboard and touch-screen – for quick, easy data entry |
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| The Tablet PC incorporates all of these capabilities, and is a great option for medical professionals on the go. |
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| HP: "What, do you believe motivates the physician to consider using a Tablet PC in his examination room?" |
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| Shawn: "Many physicians would rather be treating their patients, and not having to interact with IT, but it has become a necessity. The smaller the unit, and the easier it is to use, is a plus factor for most physicians. All clinicians are looking for fast access to data on the go for speedy treatment. Simply, the Tablet PC is easy to use and easy to understand." |
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| "The Tablet PC is a versatile unit with both a keyboard and touch-screen capabilities, which provides a simple way to pull up medical records, and diagnostic information, as well as enter data into the EHR. It is extremely easy to share medical images, videos, before and after images, and other information with patients or at point of care, in a way that is non-intrusive to the provider's interaction with the patient." |
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| HP: "Let's discuss durability" |
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| Shawn: "Durability is of tantamount importance in the physicians practice. Physicians have to move around to conduct a full examination. Any unit within the examination room needs to be able to take punishment." |
| In fact, HP offers the HP EliteBook 2740p Tablet PC, which has been designed with the needs of a demanding environment in mind. |
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| HP: "How about security?" |
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| Shawn: "At the most basic level, any medical mobile device needs to have comprehensive security while still being easy to use for the provider. Security must be intuitive and at the same time meet privacy and data requirements. Examples would be hard drive encryption, which is a huge benefit. Hard drive encryption entropy makes the information on the hard drive only readable by the person encrypting the information, yet is nearly transparent to the provider using the Tablet PC. |
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| Other security measures include passwords and security levels that can be initiated and implemented by individual medical practitioners. The Tablet PC can be connected to an active directory, or can be stand-alone. This all helps with HIPPA or HITECH requirements. The fingerprint reader is also a great option in certain areas of the medical practice, such as front desk registration, and administrative areas." |
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| HP: "Shawn, are there any other aspects you would like to share with us concerning the Tablet PC in particular?" |
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| Shawn: "If you are considering a laptop refresh, you should absolutely consider a Tablet PC. It is often a less expensive, more effective option. It allows for flexible workflow, and is completely mobile with easy sign in and out and no need to change machines from room to room. You may even want to consider adding mobile broadband as an option allowing you access to the Internet on the go. This is a perfect option for locums and travelling physicians." |
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| HP: "Shawn, would you recommend the HP EliteBook Tablet PC?" |
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| Shawn: "I have been very happy with HP's Tablet PC offering. They have all the features we have already discussed, and are a great option for EHR and point of care. It is vital to your ROI to deliver service with a lower point of cost, and tablet PCs really allow a provider to condense many of their multiple devices into one high performance system." |
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| We would like to thank Shawn for his time, and look forward to chatting with him about other products to consider for use with your EHR system. |
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| Improve the manageability, productivity and mobility in your medical practice. |
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| HP EliteBook – benefits for use in the medical practice include: |
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Lightweight, rugged design, with an aluminum surface, which meets military standards for vibration, dust, humidity, altitude and high temperature. |
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Extensive wireless connectivity options – HP Mobile Broadband; Wi–Fi CERTIFIED WLAN, and Bluetooth |
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Hard–drive data is protected from drops and sudden impact with HP 3D DriveGuard |
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Enhanced security with integrated TPM chip, HP Protect Tools software – data encryption and HP Fingerprint Sensor |
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HP Long Life Battery solution, greater recyclability and fewer substances of concern |
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