Physicians are embracing mobile devices but do not believe the technology has begun to transform the health care industry, according to a survey by Spyglass Consulting Group, Healthcare IT News reports.
Key Findings
The survey found that although 98% of physicians use mobile devices for clinical and personal purposes, 83% said their primary source for accessing patient information while at hospitals, clinics or home is a desktop computer.
The survey also found that:
- 80% of physicians believe tablet computers such as the iPad show promise in health care settings but currently can be used only for communication; and
- Three out of four physicians said hospital IT executives do not want to allow mobile devices on the company network.
Comments
Gregg Malkary, managing director of Spyglass Consulting, said that mobile devices are developing too slowly to meet the clinical needs of physicians.
He said, "Significant software innovation will be required to realize the vision for anytime, anywhere clinical computing."
Malkary added that some hospital IT departments could be wary of adopting mobile devices because they have invested resources into the security of desktop technology (Wicklund, Healthcare IT News, 2/1).