Residents at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, did not find the iPad to be particularly useful as a clinical rounding tool after months of use, according to a study in the Journal of Mobile Technology in Medicine.
At the start of the 2011-2012 academic year, all 119 of the hospital's residents were given 16GB iPad to use as they saw fit. At the end of the academic year, the residents completed a survey to measure their perception of the clinical and educational utility of the device.
Across all residency programs, the iPad received low marks for clinical utility. Just 33 percent of residents reported an increase in efficiency when using the iPad during rounds. Common complaints included wireless Internet connectivity issues, the log-in process and cumbersome progress note writing.
Residents were split on the iPad as an educational tool, with surgical and obstetrics/gynecology residents finding it more useful than medical residents. A majority of all residents (52 percent), however, said they would recommend the iPad to others as a research tool.
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