Multi-Tasking Tablets Critical for Doctors?

Running multiple applications simultaneously provides fast access to patient data.

As doctors trade in clipboards for tablets, will “good-enough” computing performance suffice for accessing medical records, lab results and X-rays while patients eagerly await a prognosis?

Lenovo ThinkPad2 Windows 8 Tablet

The Lenovo ThinkPad2 running Windows 8 will allow doctors to use a touch interface or a stylus for more precise movements and digital handwriting. Windows 7 applications will run on the Windows 8 tablet.

Tapping open one app to access a patient’s history then closing it before tapping another to view an EKG and then another app for lab results could delay patient diagnosis and treatment.

By contrast, tablets with more compute capability would allow healthcare professionals to run multiple applications simultaneously and toggle back and forth between them seamlessly. Doctors could even run multiple applications and drag them to display side by side on the screen like a dashboard, according to Josh Newman of the Mobile and Communications Group at Intel.

Using a prototype Lenovo ThinkPad2 running Windows 8 on an Intel Atom processor, codenamed “Clover Trail,” Newman demonstrated at the recent Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco how doctors could benefit from having a tablet with the muscle to handle multitasking.

“Here I can have my EKG open,” said Newman tapping on the tablet screen. “I can have another window with an ultrasound or an X-ray. I could also open up a Skype window and do a video conference.”

That model of the Lenovo tablet will be available later this year and will allow doctors to use a touch interface or a stylus for more precise movements and digital handwriting. Windows 7 applications, which are widely used by IT departments, will run on the Windows 8 tablet.

In addition, software developers can build “applications in the Windows 7 environment, give them the new Windows 8 look, but still have all of the benefits of a desktop, multiple window environment,” said Newman.

 
Related stories

Multi-Tasking Tablets Critical for Doctors?

Running multiple applications simultaneously provides fast access to patient data.

As doctors trade in clipboards for tablets, will “good-enough” computing performance suffice for accessing medical records, lab results and X-rays while patients eagerly await a prognosis?

Lenovo ThinkPad2 Windows 8 Tablet

The Lenovo ThinkPad2 running Windows 8 will allow doctors to use a touch interface or a stylus for more precise movements and digital handwriting. Windows 7 applications will run on the Windows 8 tablet.

Tapping open one app to access a patient’s history then closing it before tapping another to view an EKG and then another app for lab results could delay patient diagnosis and treatment.

By contrast, tablets with more compute capability would allow healthcare professionals to run multiple applications simultaneously and toggle back and forth between them seamlessly. Doctors could even run multiple applications and drag them to display side by side on the screen like a dashboard, according to Josh Newman of the Mobile and Communications Group at Intel.

Using a prototype Lenovo ThinkPad2 running Windows 8 on an Intel Atom processor, codenamed “Clover Trail,” Newman demonstrated at the recent Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco how doctors could benefit from having a tablet with the muscle to handle multitasking.

“Here I can have my EKG open,” said Newman tapping on the tablet screen. “I can have another window with an ultrasound or an X-ray. I could also open up a Skype window and do a video conference.”

That model of the Lenovo tablet will be available later this year and will allow doctors to use a touch interface or a stylus for more precise movements and digital handwriting. Windows 7 applications, which are widely used by IT departments, will run on the Windows 8 tablet.

In addition, software developers can build “applications in the Windows 7 environment, give them the new Windows 8 look, but still have all of the benefits of a desktop, multiple window environment,” said Newman.

 
Related stories