Mobile PCs on wheels

Are you running around in your hospital or office with a computer in your hand all the time? Do you have wheels for your mobile computer? Or, is your tablet so light that you don't need any wheels?

The "computer on wheels" or "COW" may be ubiquitous in the hospital, but in the medical office or clinic you're more likely to find PC terminals in each patient room or physicians walking around with tablet computers or laptops. Of course, some docs prefer wheeling around a COW and going from one room to the next. This is the only way to be mobile with a large monitor + mouse/keyboard combination if you don't have them set up in every room. It's really not a bad setup, but I think it would be better if you added another monitor that actually faces the patient. After all, the medical encounter with the patient should include some type of interactive display. This allows the provider to illustrate complex concepts to the patient using multimedia and this is why tablet computers are becoming so popular as bedside education tools designed for the point-of-care.

The next time you're shopping for a mobile computer on wheels, consider adding that 2nd monitor that faces the patient.