Apple iPad not for medical market after all?

Earlier this month we discussed the possibility of the Apple tablet computer, which we now know is called the iPad, being designed for use in hospitals and other medical establishments. Well yesterday the product was finally announced and as such we know what the iPad’s specifications are.

Mobihealthnews have produced an interesting piece looking at early reactions from analysts, healthcare professionals and vendors to the Apple iPad. The piece focuses on the device’s shortcomings when applied to medical care and raises the question; will the iPad take the healthcare world by storm after all?

As the Mobihealthnews piece points out, certian aspects of the device would suggest that the iPad isn’t really optimised for the hospital floor. First of all is the lack of a camera. This immediately renders VoIP video calls out of the question meaning that doctors will not be able to use them for remote consultations à la 3G Doctor. Although an inconvenience this is far from a dealbreaker as physicians are likely to conduct these consultations from their desk opposed to on the move. A bigger miss is the lack of a barcode scanner which is standard for most other healthcare scanners. In this sense the lack of a camera is a shame as barcode scanner apps on the iPhone use the in-built camera to great effect.

There is also the question of whether the iPad will be robust enough for clinicians on the go. Apple’s device is not ruggedised and unlikely to respond especially well to being dropped. Whilst doctors are hardly going to be tossing their shiny new tablets to and fro there is the possibility they will take a few knocks and bumps as they are carried around by busy doctors. The question of how these will be carried around is also an intriguing one. At approximately 10 inches by 8 inches and 1.5lbs in weight it is certainly not pocket sized. Although far from huge it would need to be carried by hand which could prove tiresome for some doctors.

The two biggest issues with the iPad though are ones that have been directed at its smaller cousin the iPhone; the lack of a removable battery and multitasking. With an ‘up to 10 hours’ battery life the iPad’s usefulness is diminished by the necessity to charge it between uses opposed to carrying a spare battery. Equally the ability to only run one function at a time further reduces the utility of the device. In many ways the iPad is a bigger, quicker iPhone that can’t make calls and lacks a camera.

In essence then, where does the iPad fit? This has been one of the real questions facing tablet computers; what is it for? It lands somewhere between a Smartphone and PC but it seems the iPad doesn’t do quite enough of either to make it a necessity. With so many doctors already using iPhones that include a camera, the ability to make calls and the capacity to run the same amount of functions at once (one) it is hard to see what gap the iPad will fill. If anything it is just another piece of kit to drag around with them which can only hinder a physician’s efficiency which is surely the complete antithesis of what they want.

It is worth noting that I am a tablet skeptic (not just iPad) and can’t really see where they fit in general. Many people, doctors or otherwise, will see this as a must have product and it may prove to be ubiquitous in hospitals in the years to come. It should also be said that final judgement should be reserved for when the iPad has apps developed specifically for it rather than iPhone apps ported to it. For now, however, it would appear that the iPad is not quite ready for the medical market.