Healthcare Tablet Computing

The above trailer is from the movie field of dreams. The basic premise is that Kevin Costner's character is driven to build a baseball field in the middle of a corn field, in hopes that people or rather "they" will come.

I felt that this trailer was appropriate for the blog for this reason. Right now infrastructure is being built to allow for major changes in the healthcare tablet computing marketplace. Once the groundwork is built will they (people) use it. That is a very interesting question that I will attempt to start answering here.

Access is a big deal. This relates to the ease of access to devices and systems by those that will use it. If a system is easy to use, but there is one terminal for 100 people, no one will be able to use it. It is imperative that enough are available for those to use it.

Is it Cool???? This is a very loaded question. One would argue that it does not matter if its cool or not, but when it comes to technology as of late the cool factor is one that really matters. For example Oprah, who happens to drive sales and use of almost anything she touches previously supported the Amazon Kindle device. She recently supported the iPad and talked of its great virtues. This will do nothing but bolster the sales and hype of the device. While some would argue that its a quip against Amazon and the Kindle, and great for Apple, it is much more than that. There is this theory in Hollywood that good or bad, publicity is still publicity. As long as they are talking about you its a good thing.

In terms of tablet computing as a whole the more they talk about any device the better everyone is in the end. As the public moves forward with the hype and buzz around the new iPad all it will take is another player to introduce something on the heels of the iPad to keep the buzz going.

Is it easy to use is another question that must be considered as well. There will be more than enough training needed for the systems to be successful, but at first glance can most people get how they are supposed to use it. That seems like a very trivial question, but it goes a long long way to gaining acceptance and then further adoption amongst those that will need to use it.

For example, I have a friend that was anti-iPhone from the day I received mine (first generation 3 years ago). He was so pro Windows Mobile, that he never really considered the iPhone as a viable option for him or his family. With each iteration that the iPhone went through he had more questions for me about if it could do X, or how was Y done, and what about A, B, and C. Eventually all of his questions were answered and when he saw just the sheer ease of use and the potential he not only bought one for himself last summer, he bought one for his wife as well. This is a huge testament to the interface and cool factor of the device, but mostly due to its ease of use. Had the device been difficult to use, he would have never considered it for his wife, and would have been much more hesitant to get one for himself.

As the infrastructure continues to be built and new items are released, if they can focus on the three questions that are posed above users will be willing to give it a shot. If they can focus on these three along with the questions that will be posed in the next post healthcare tablet computing will be the next big thing.