Will Apple's iPad Revolutionize Health Care?

Apple hopes the new iPad will fill in the gap between the small mobile device and the full-size laptop. Built-in wireless internet capability (including 3G coverage in an upcoming iPad release), a touch screen display and thousands of downloadable applications give the device the potential to transform mobile technology.

But what can the iPad do for health IT?

Laptops have already become a staple for many doctors, but many tech experts believe the iPad will prove the perfect companion for physicians and other health care providers looking to embrace health IT technology.

The primary reason the iPad is thought to be a perfect fit for health care workers is convenience. Not only is the iPad far lighter than a laptop--weighing in at just 1.5 pounds--but its battery life, 10 hours, nearly doubles the 6 or so hours touted by most high-end laptops. It's small enough to fit into a medium-sized pocket, and with a starting cost of $499, it's a bargain compared to most laptops on the market today.

Just imagine: An iPad application (or even a physician-specific operating system, perhaps) designed for physicians would undoubtedly offer a user-friendly interface. And adding EHR (Electronic Health Records) technology to a sophisticated piece of equipment like the iPad would be a cinch.

Physicians who are able to pull up medical records and other necessary data quicker could spend more time speaking directly with the patient, including more eye-contact, an element studies have shown to be crucial in boosting patient satisfaction.

But even those experts who believe the iPad will become ubiquitous in the health care industry don't believe it will happen overnight. The iPad, released April 3, has been on the market just over a week, so it's too early to tell whether or not it will catch on.

The iPad can be useful for personal health, too. The iPad, like the iPhone, brings a wealth of health and medical information to your fingertips. One application, Carter's Encyclopaedia of Health and Medicine, was specifically designed for the iPad. It offers 1,800 pages of medical information, totaling 12,000 entries. It also offers full-text search, an interactive diagram of the human body, browsing history and more.

The iPad also offers applications to help users keep fit. Hundreds of applications offer information such as nutrition labels for different foods (340 calories for one cup of egg nog?), tools to track the user's daily calories consumed, body mass index, exercise history and more.

As it relates to health care, the iPad could be a game-changer, or it could be much ado about nothing. Only time will tell.