“Most people are too young to remember, but doctors used to make house calls. Really. They actually had the time to come by the house, treat the patient, talk with the family, maybe even linger awhile for a cup of coffee.
Nowadays, not so much. Today, doctors are on tighter schedules than Federal Express. Days are scheduled in five-minute blocks. Demands come from all sides: hospitals want paperwork, providers want second opinions, associates want consults, and then there’s the patient. Anything that a hospital can do to streamline a physician’s day, even by just minutes, used to be a good thing to strive for. Not it’s a requirement. The competition – and the doctors them selves – demand nothing less.
As recently as last year, handheld PDAs that could access patient records, prepare a doctor for daily rounds, and deliver the latest lab results, were considered cutting-edge conveniences. Nice to have, especially for those docs who fancy themselves high-tech pioneers. But in just a few short months, mobile technology has caught on among healthcare professionals and the well-connected medical PDA is fast becoming as commonplace as the stethoscope.
But there are some big differences among mobile systems.
PatientKeeper, Inc. of Boston is a pioneer in the growing field of mobile healthcare, as is at the forefront in providing doctors with technology that can meet not just today’s needs, but tomorrow’s as well. Two-way technology for example. PatientKeeper is the only mobile systems provider that lets doctors enter diagnoses, data requests, and patient searches from the PDA, instead of providing view-only downloads. And, PatientKeeper is the only system that eliminates the need for multiple devices because it combines clinical applications and hospital billing applications on the same unit. ”
Originally published on Pocketnow on August 12, 2003. More Software articles from the Pocketnow archive.