Yeap, you read it right. California’s Kaweah Delta Health Care District will be ordering 100 of Apple’s latest sensational gadget – the iPad – to replace laptops for its medical workers to use in their day-to-day activities.
The hospital had already purchased three iPads for testing purposes and were impressed with the practical applications of the device, where in addition to usual office applications such as e-mail, the hospital’s medical staff will use the iPads to view X-ray images, EKG results and various other patient monitoring programs, as well as remote access to their workstations.
Already, 20 doctors have purchased the iPad on thier own accord to use at the office.
For the hospital, the biggest plus with the iPad is its 10-hour battery life and instant startup capabilities. This, the hospital says, will boost efficiency greatly just by eliminating time wasted turning laptops on and off and charging batteries between appointments.
You might think that US$500 asking price for an iPad is not worth it. Well the hopital sees is as completely justifiable compared to standard laptops.
The only major hiccup? Apple is limiting individual iPad purchases to only three per customer. As a result the hospital has their initial order for the 100 iPads rejected by Apple. But the hospital indicated that this has been resolved.
Wonder which hospital will be the first in Malaysia to use the iPad…
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