iPad and Modern Medicine

I've been touting the many endearing characteristics of the Apple iPad since it's launch earlier this year.  A few recent reports have noted that the iPad comprises over 95% of all tablet sales (can you even name another tablet on the market?) and industry analysts, Gartner, is recommending that businesses quickly deploy iPads (see article here).  According to Gartner:

The iPad is further portrayed as having "the potential to be hugely disruptive" to both the markets and business models of various enterprises. Aside from book and magazine publishers, Gartner posits everything from architectural firms and schools through to airlines and hospitals as being affected. "While there are no certainties, the iPad looks set to become a market-disrupting device, like the iPod before it," says Prentice. "Even if you think it is just a passing fad, the cost of early action is low, while the price of delay may well be extremely high."

It seems natural that iPads would find their way into the health care industry and HealthImaging.com has recently pointed out, with some caution, that the trend has started.

Launched in April, the iPad continues to make waves across the world. Technophiles, teenagers and grandmas alike love the iPad, which has been touted as the tool to mobilize business users. Apple has sold about 8 million, with many physicians among those who have been bitten by the iPad bug.

In a February survey by Epocrates, 20 percent of U.S. physicians planned to buy an iPad. A larger group, however, remained somewhat cautious; 38 percent of physicians expressed interest in the iPad, but wanted more information to solidify their purchase decision. 

... and... 

This fall, Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., equipped 98 incoming medical students with iPads. The main goal is to improve the student learning experience by giving them flexible access to content whether it is a virtual cadaver in the dissection lab, annotated lecture slides and videos in the classroom or journal articles for evidence-based practice in clinic.

The medical school has not yet determined the practical impacts of the project, but pioneers point to its potential. 

See the entire piece here.