With so much emphasis being placed on Health Information Technology (health IT, HIT, or HITECH) by the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), will tablet PCs make a comeback in the healthcare sector? Electronic health record (EHR) vendors are making software to be optimized for pen-based entry, but physicians and other clinicians are not adapting well to pen-based computing. They revert to the old mouse and keyboard. Why?
Will we see the Tablet PC gain traction over the next few years among medical professionals? Maybe as more physicians see pharmaceutical representatives (drug sales reps) using Tablet PCs, they will slowly recognize the potential these devices have to offer. Perhaps tablet PC training needs to be a core part of the medical school or residency curriculum. I know that certain medical schools require all their medical students to purchase a specific tablet PC (like the Lenovo Thinkpad X200 Tablet). Will that become the norm?
