With the advent of the iPad, new possibilities for healthcare have proliferated.
FutureMedica recently published a story about how the iPad is "making the hospital rounds."
From creating ways to reduce administrative and medical costs to patient education, apps developed by doctors and hospitals are even inadvertently making many hospitals and doctor's offices more eco-friendly.
Apps for Surgery
Dr. Edward Bender, a computer programmer and cardiothoracic surgeon at Cape Girardeau, has developed the CV Surgery Risk app that lets doctors and patients to estimate the risks of heart surgery.
The same app helps medical students and residents prep for procedures.
Home Doctor Visits
In Kalkaringi, Australia, far from health clinics, Aboriginal Health Workers are using the iPad as digital files for their patients. Files are backed up in a secure data center in Sydney.
Patient Consultations
Japanese doctors use the iPad as a way to expedite and clarify diagnoses.
Instead of wasting paper, patients can now use the touchscreen to fill out answers on patient health forms prior to consultations. Doctors have been taking advantage of the iPad's graphics with image-driven explanations of diagnoses.
To learn more about mobile healthcare in Japan.
To learn more about mobile healthcare in Japan, click here.
Remote Scan for Electronic Medical Records
RemoteScan is a free app that helps doctors organize electronic medical records and fiscal management systems in a centralized location by letting them scan documents directly into the system.
Going Green: Paperless Doctor's Offices
It was only a matter of time: offices are going completely paperless, now that the iPad can store patient charts and be used to explain surgical prep instructions.
One plastic surgeon loaded his library of publications onto the waiting room iPads so that the patients could learn about facial surveys.
To read more about this paradigm shift, click here.
Saving Hospitals Money
Instead of purchasing expensive, perennially-outdated medical books, hospitals are using the iPad and its readily available, comparably cheap system of "updates" to educate their staff.
An Alternate Keyboard For People With Disabilities
Because fine motor skills are not critical for use of the iPad, people with reduced motor skills and related disabilities can use it much more easily than a traditional keyboard.
To see further uses of Apple technology for disabled people, click here.
Image:ANDI2..'s Flickr
Consolidating Information About Healthcare
iTriage is a free app for mobile devices that provides local users of the Troy-based healthcare organization with information about Samaritan and Albany Memorial Hospitals: specialty services offered, location maps and community services.
The iPad's 10-hour battery life has given Kaweah Delta hospital the notion that that it could be used to check EKG results, X-rays and monitor patients. Compared with the $3,000, specialized touchscreen tablets used by many radiologists, an iPad -- at 1/6 the price -- is nothing.
Image:damclean's Flickr
Children's Hospitals
At children's hospitals in Florida and Idaho, a customized version of the iPad app called Medical Video jLog is being used to explain CT scans and MRIs to children using interactive question-and-answer features.
St. Luke's Hospital in Boise, Idaho, has loaded its iPads with about 20 educational videos on vascular procedures and physical therapy.
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