iPads are everywhere

Does it seem like everyone has an iPad? OK, maybe not everyone. But, you can be sure that if you go to a crowded place (like a bookstore, a coffee shop, or an airport), you'll definitely find people who are using iPads.  Over the weekend, I was traveling and it seemed like every other passenger on the plane had an iPad.

How about the hospital? Have iPads been showing up in your health care organization? Will the iPad be a safe and secure way for patients to manage their health information? Do you have patients waiting in the waiting room, reading a book on the iPad? Maybe they're playing Scrabble or an action game. Maybe they're actually researching their health condition and learning more about disease self management.

Physicians have a unique opportunity to leverage multimedia and teach patients by using devices like the iPad. If a patient already owns an iPad, then it may become that much easier to use the device and teach the individual about specific health condition. Make sure to be sensitive about patient privacy. You wouldn't want do direct your patient to a web page about STDs and have someone else mistakenly turn on that iPad to find a website about HIV or syphilis.

Speaking of iPads, I've been holding off on buying one because I'm waiting for the 2nd generation model. However, I'm not sure that I can wait given that we're going to see several other slate tablets this summer and fall (like the HP Slate running webOS and Android slates made by Dell, Lenovo, and others).