iPads increase doctors' efficiency

Personal mobile computers increase medical residents’ efficiency, reduce delays and enhance continuity of care, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine. In November 2010, the University of Chicago Medicine became the first hospital in the country to provide all residents with tablet computers, supplying iPads to all 115 residents in internal medicine. When surveyed in 2011, more than three out of four of the residents reported that the portable computers allowed them to complete tasks quicker and freed them up to spend more time on direct patient care and to participate in educational activities. The hospital’s electronic medical records system confirmed the survey responses. Residents in the study submitted 5 percent more orders before 7 a.m. rounds, at which they update senior physicians about overnight admissions. They placed 8 percent more orders before handing off their responsibilities and leaving the hospital by 1 p.m., as required by duty-hour rules.