When doctors-in-training at the University of
Chicago were given iPad tablet computers to use on their rounds, they found
that using the device helped them be more efficient at ordering tests and
procedures for their patients.
The
study from the university program, published Monday in the Archives of Internal
Medicine, tracked 115 residents who received devices purchased by the hospital.
There was no funding reported from Apple Inc, which makes the iPad.
Most
residents who used the devices to access patient records and coordinate their
care said they cut about an hour per day off their workload. Researchers also
found that the internal medicine trainees tended to put in orders for patient
procedures earlier than before they got an iPad.
"What's
happening to medicine now is it's very data-driven, and a lot of the data is
being put into computers and the computers aren't at the (patient's)
bedside," said Dr. Bhakti Patel, the study's lead author from the
University of Chicago.
"A
lot of people are feeling that they can't spend a lot of time at the bedside
because they're kind of shackled to the computer," she told Reuters
Health.
The
researchers didn't test the iPads against any different devices, such as other
brands of tablets or smartphones. Patel said that other medical training
programs might consider varying types of devices, depending on what fits their
needs.
After a
first try of giving a few residents iPads went well, Patel and her colleagues
handed the devices out to all 115 of their internal medicine
doctors-in-training in late 2010.
The
iPads allowed residents to see patients' electronic health records, to contact
the hospital laboratory or other departments if they needed tests done and to
show patients their own x-rays and other test results, as well as access
medical journals.
A few
months into using the iPads, Patel's team surveyed the residents and found that
almost four out of five said they were more efficient on the wards with the
devices, and 68 percent said they avoided delays in patient care by using them.
Compared
to before they got the tablets, the residents put in the same number of orders
for tests and procedures for their patients, but slightly more of those were
placed within two hours of a patient's hospital admission.
The
devices cost the program about $650 each, including insurance and software.
"Clearly
this is demonstrating a new trend in integration of personal computing devices
with the electronic health record," said Yan Xiao, from the Baylor Health
Care System in Dallas. Xiao said his personal views don't represent those of
his institution.
"There's
a lot of interest in using the iPad, not only by residents but by nurses and
others - and also other devices like the Android," said Xiao, who has
studied those trends but wasn't involved in the newly published research study.
Reuters
SOURCE:Archives
of Internal Medicine, online March 12, 2012.
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