When Apple announced the release of the iPad, we were buzzing, coming up with ideas of how it could be useful for some of our clients in member-based industries. In What We Think About the iPad, we talked about how healthcare providers could easily access EHR health records and educational records using the new device.

It looks like at least one hospital is already bringing Apple’s innovative technology to its staff. Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital was highlighted by Apple for not only using the iPhone, but for developing the VitalHub app to make their work even easier.

Using VitalHub, says [Dr. Thomas Stewart, Chief of Medicine at Mount Sinai], “We now have access to exactly what we have in our computers here in the hospital. We can get access to our patients’ data whenever and wherever we want it. Knowing what’s happening with their drugs, radiology, laboratory values, microbiology results — it really enables me to make decisions on the go”…

Combining VitalHub with medical apps available on the App Store makes iPhone an even more powerful on-demand reference tool. “With VitalHub, I can see what drugs a patient is on,” Stewart says. “Previously, I’d have to call ICU and speak to the bedside nurse.” Once Stewart confirms a patient’s prescription drugs, he can use other apps on iPhone to quickly discover whether the drugs might interact inappropriately with each other.

“The whole concept of everything in one device, and being able to move between applications — it’s fantastic.” And De Lio adds, “The speed and performance of iPhone and the app is a big benefit for patients because all the information is coming to their caregiver a lot faster”…

For Mount Sinai’s physicians and the patients they serve, the hospital’s decision to integrate iPhone into daily operations has transformed patient care, allowing doctors to make faster, more-informed decisions. “We believe iPhone is going to shift the way we practice medicine,” Dwivedi says.

“This is big stuff, more important than anything,” Stewart agrees. “iPhone is the future of health care.”

Kudos to this hospital for combining cutting-edge technology with quality patient care. I bet they can’t wait to get all of their patient data onto the larger screen iPad.

To read the full article about Mount Sinai, check it out here on Apple’s website. Be sure to watch the video of the app in action.

Last month I wrote about Blogging for Business and how it helps promote your marketing message. I was flipping through the February issue of Physicians Practice and came across this: Are You Saying to Much Online?

While we advocate blogging for our healthcare clients it’s important to keep patient confidentiality in mind. The Physicians Practice article has a few tips:

Read it over. Before you hit the “publish” or “share” key to display your thoughts to the Internet world, review what you’ve written. Make sure there are no identifying details or information that patients or colleagues might take issue with, says healthcare attorney Steven Kern. Remember that what might seem funny or harmless to you may offend others. “If you think for a second that what you are writing could be misconstrued, take your [fingers] off the keyboard,” Kern says.

Consultant Kenneth Hertz says physicians should take a page from a carpenter’s book. Where they measure twice and cut once, so should the doc read twice and hit send once.

Keep separate profiles. If you publish a social networking profile or broadcast bits on Twitter, keep your professional persona separate from your personal one. As a physician, you should maintain a professional boundary with your patients, Kern says. “As soon as you start mixing friendship or the social or the comfortable zone with the professional zone, I think you can run into some problems,” he says. So don’t post your family’s Disneyland vacation photos to your professional Facebook page.

Look beyond HIPAA. All-out privacy violations such as listing a patient’s name, age, or address are likely rare, but plenty of forays into the cybernetworking world may be inappropriate without being technical HIPAA violations. “Physicians really have an obligation to go well beyond what HIPAA mandates,” says Vartabedian. More subtle ethical violations are far more common — and perhaps just as dangerous.

Follow other bloggers. If you’re considering broadcasting your thoughts online via a blog, first spend a couple weeks reading other medical bloggers, says Vartabedian. Following your trusted and more experienced peers is a good way to learn the optimal topics and the boundaries. “Looking and listening is one of the best things you can do to learn the standards,” Vartabedian says.

Blend cases. If you feel compelled to wax clinical, you should take great pains to fictionalize the case, or blend several cases to ensure one is not identifiable. Perhaps present a story representative of the case or problem you had, Jones says.

Consider a policy. Larger practices should consider a policy outlining what physicians and staff can and cannot communicate online and what media they can use without prior authorization, says Kern. Practices may even need policies for social networking pages. “I think that is an area ripe for all kinds of problems, even if it’s a private access site,” he says.

Use your common sense. “If you wouldn’t say it on an elevator, don’t say it on your blog,” Jones says. Remember, nothing is private anymore, and everything you type — everything— can wind up going viral. “Write as if everything you type can be on CNN, because if it’s anything controversial, it will be.”

While most of these tips apply to Doctors publishing in blogs about their practices some of them apply to larger company sites as well. Use your best judgment when posting and keep HIPPA laws in mind.

Check out the entire article, Are You Saying to Much Online, on the Physicians Practice website for more information.

Simulated images on the iPad

Now that I’ve had a few days to think about Apple’s new iPad, I’m ready to weigh in with my opinion.

There’s been some fuss from naysayers about missing features and weak hardware, but people are really wondering why anyone would want a bigger iPhone. Especially a bigger iPhone that you can’t make calls from.

The iPad has email, a calendar, browses the web, and duplicates a bunch of other features already included in the iPhone. Sure, it does all these things with a bit more of that Apple élan we love, but is it really just a bigger iPhone? I don’t think so.

The iPad is going to raise the bar for eReaders. Amazon’s Kindle seems low tech when you  compare it to the high-quality display on the iPad. Plus, whereas the Kindle is just for reading, the iPad allows you to look at images and videos, listen to music, surf the web, and check e-mail, among other things. In my opinion, the iPad will do to eReaders what the iPhone did to phones- change everything.

I imagine that developers everywhere are already exploring new ideas and will come up with some mind-blowing apps. In the meantime, I’ve come up with a few ideas for cool, everyday applications and some others specific to our member-based service, healthcare and education clients.

Everyday Applications of the iPad

I’ve never really been a football fan, but I love watching the Super Bowl ads. Now, if I (hypothetically) went to the Super Bowl, I could take my iPad with me and during those ‘pesky’ TV timeouts I could watch the commercials. You get the thrill of being at the game, without missing out on the next E*Trade baby or football-playing Clydesdale.

The actual football fans could see player and game stats in real time, watch instant replays, and get a whole wealth of game data. Even coaches down on the field could use the iPad to receive updates, stats and play information from the guys in the booth. The same sideline applications could be developed for baseball, basketball and even little league coaches.

In a retail environment, the iPad presents many advantages in assisting customers. Imagine you are test driving a new BMW. The salesperson sitting next to you could use an iPad to fill in the list of available options, color and features of your new 5-Series.

When you are shopping for your next hand-tailored suit at Brooks Brothers, they could use the iPad to enter your measurements and select a style and fabric for you. Sales associates at J. Crew could add items not available in the store to your transaction. The folks at the Alpine Shop could run through a gear checklist with you while shopping for your Everest Expedition.

Not only can the iPad help retailers help you shop, it makes making the final sale even easier. If you’ve visited an Apple store lately, you would have noticed that your transaction is handled by an iPod touch with a credit card reader attached to it. You don’t have to stand in line, they can email you a copy of the receipt and everything is entered into the POS from a handheld device.

The iPad can come into play throughout the entire buying process- from browsing possible options, generating custom orders, to making that final sale.

I’m also excited about the potential for news and publishing. While you can currently get the New York Times for free online, that’s not going to last much longer. The Times and other information providers may start charging for content, but with specially-designed apps for the iPad you could have all your favorite newspapers, magazines and other content on hand in one place.

Application of the iPad for Member-based, Healthcare and Education

Sure, the iPad will be great for reading book, browsing the web and watching funny YouTube videos, but it’s also going to be useful for some of our clients in the member-based, healthcare, and education industries.

Last year, Atomicdust developed a new identity and marketing package for Elsevier’s Evolve. In a nutshell, Evolve allows students and teachers to interact with textbook content and learning tools on their computers. It works with a desktop, laptop and potentially, the iPad. With its crisp images and portability, the iPad is the perfect hardware to manage, display and share this content between faculty and students.

Gateway EDI provides medical claims software for clients and we designed a user interface for their web-based service. While the application will run on an iPhone, it’s a little cramped because of the small screen size. The iPad solves this with its beautiful 9.7-inch display. Doctors’ offices could pair the iPad with Gateway EDI to easily handle all of their health care billing needs.

My doctor uses a practice management software solution. When I’m in the exam room, he pulls up my file on a clunky terminal, clicks through a couple of tabs and enters some simple notes. Practice Management Software providers such as NextGen or Greenway Medical could develop apps for the iPad so doctors can access electronic health records (EHR), e-Prescribing and other services for their practice in a faster and simpler manner.

Other member-based services clients such as Mosby’s Nursing Suite or potential clients like OpenTable or Netflix could develop apps for the iPad that will help improve current customer relations and also offer features to attract new subscribers.

There may be a lot of tech geeks out there that are unhappy with the iPad, but I am really excited about the endless possibilities it presents. The iPad will no doubt be a great tool to consume content such as books, movies, newspapers, and the internet, but  what’s really exciting will be working with clients to come up with marketing strategies and design applications for use on the iPad.