Google bets on mobile market, July 31, 2007
♦ "Mobile is the fastest and cheapest way to reach the largest number of people," said Chris Sacca, head of special initiatives at Google.

"There are billions of people on this planet who still don't have access to the Internet. And we think mobile presents the biggest opportunity to get them on the Internet."

[If one didn't know better, one would think Mr. Sacca was talking about embracing PHR, EHR, and EMR systems.

Required med student IT
Third Year Medical Student PDA Requirement, University of Virginia Office of Medical Education

♦ "Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are useful tools in a variety of clinical settings. As an extension of your desktop or laptop computer, they provide quick access to reference materials and medical applications."
♦ Apple iPod Touch 8 GB; SmartPhone: Apple iPhone 3G 8 GB
♦ Students may use a Palm TX, Palm OS Centro or Treo 755p smartphones. All the major medical software packages are available for these devices.
♦ The School of Medicine has a portal specifically for use by PDAs and other Mobile Medicine devices.

The Palmdoc Chronicles- The latest Medical PDA News and Updates, posted March 2009- "PDA choices for medical students"

♦ There are really only 3 choices left for PDAs and it is really a personal decision which platform one prefers as each has its own strength and weaknesses.

In no particular order:
♦ iPod Touch
♦ Palm TX
♦ HP iPAQ 111 Classic Handheld.

Familiarity breeds benefit
"New Tool in the MD's Bag: A Smartphone," by Sindya N. Bhanoo

Steven Schwartz, often encounters patients who have no idea what each of the pills they've been popping is called. "But usually they can tell you what it looks like," the Georgetown University Medical Center family practitioner said. "They might say it's a blue, triangular pill for hypertension."

Armed with an iPhone, Schwartz is able to play detective. He uses an application
called Epocrates to input pill characteristics, such as color, shape and clarity. The software replies with a list of medications and images that match those criteria, allowing him to deduce what the patient is taking.

Schwartz says his iPhone has become indispensable....

♦ Special to The Washington Post; Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Always on continuing education
"Will docs get their CME credits on iPhone?" by Marc Iskowitz, July 10, 2007; Medical Media & Marketing

♦ Unbound Medicine president and CEO, Bill Detmer, MD, said the iPhone, like other wireless devices, enables doctors and nurses to carry medical knowledge "wherever they roam."

"Why Google's software approach won't work for smartphones or the enterprise,"
Posted by Jason Hiner, June 29th, 2009 opines

"... smartphones require something different. They demand meticulous attention to the end-to-end experience of the user. To accomplish that, a company needs tight collaboration among all of the engineers working on the project, plus a disciplined management process to coordinate all of the details."

[Mr. Hiner might have been addressing the designers, developers, and manufacturers of EHRs, EMRs, and PHRs as well as addressing CMS, HHS, and the Office of the National Coordinator of HIT on how to best incorporate college and technical institute IT expertise in implementing electronic protocols (5010), devices, systems, and networks.]

"The other big problem for most smartphones is the hardware/software split. The result is software that is built for lowest common denominator of devices, and that makes those devices far less intuitive and usable than devices and systems where the hardware and software are tightly integrated."

[Not only is there a hardware/software split, there is the additional split from real-world clinical workflows; the classic theory vs. reality. A split has become a gulf that has to be bridged by some providers as early as January 1, 2012.]

"to succeed in smartphones and business applications then it’s necessary to havededicated teams/departments that are much more process-oriented and focused on product quality from end-to-end."

[If Mr. Hiner had added "clinical" to "process-oriented" and replaced "product" with "patient care," he would have produced a framework for building useful and workable HIT systems.]