This from John Halamka's Life as a Healthcare CIO blog: Dr. Larry Nathanson MD, who leads Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's Emergency Medicine Informatics, has posted a rather exuberant review of the iPad: "I tested it today during my shift in the ER. Initial tests with our clinical applications went amazingly well. The ED dashboard, WebOMR and Provider Order Entry all appear to function well without modification. The popup blocker does try to get in the way of new windows, but it's a only a minor annoyance. The EKGs look better onscreen than on paper. It was great having all of the clinical information right at the bedside to discuss with the patient. The only problem was that the increase in efficiency was offset by the patients and family who wanted to gawk at it." Nathanson has some reservations about the device's ruggedness and wishes there was a strap like Panasonic uses to make the device easier to carry. He also puts in a plug for a biometric sensor to do away with typing in passwords. Must read: iPad Review

iPad to come to healthcare industry slowly: According to ZDNet's Dana Blankenhorn, "It wouldn’t have to go to market directly through Apple, but will likely be offered by EHR vendors, at little or no cost, or by hospitals trying to increase doctor compliance with EHR needs, as part of training. It only needs to interface with an existing infrastructure." More

Text for ER waiting times: ERtexting our of Miami, Florida is offering text messages that let users know the waiting times at their local emergency rooms. More

Apple enters health insurance business: April Fool's Day post from the Huffington Post. Just a joke, but some of what the writer "reports" on is actually being done by companies in the wireless health industry. This is Fiction