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News
Issue #2002 - 16
(April 2002)
(Updated Apr.
24, 2002)
MARKET OUTLOOK
& TRENDS
Doctors Strongly Endorse Benefits
of PDAs, AvantGo survey says
For physicians, carrying a
Personal Digital Assistant may very well be on its way to becoming
as routine as a stethoscope.
A recent on-line survey of 3,500 physicians confirms that using
such handheld devices improved access to information and contributed
to better patient care.
Conducted by AvantGo, the global study reported that 92 percent
of respondents are using their devices multiple times per day to
keep calendars, access drug reference guides and read medical
journals.
Overview of Findings
- Of those polled, 93 percent believe they would be more
productive if they could use their PDAs to
- Access medical reference Web sites (48 percent),
- Write and transmit prescriptions (33 percent),
- Access pharmaceutical manufacturers Web sites (28 percent)
and
- Keep records of clinical trials (27 percent).
- Of the respondents, 84 percent feel that their pharmaceutical
representatives should have access to important drug or clinical
trial information on their PDAs, making their time spent
together more productive.
- Of the doctors surveyed, 86 percent believe the quality of
patient care would improve significantly if their affiliated
hospitals supported mobile devices.
- Only 20 percent of the affiliated hospitals currently offer
this support.
Dr. John Halamka, assistant dean of Harvard Medical School and
CIO of Caregroup, Inc., said AvantGo’s results are consistent with
the medical school’s experience of providing students with PDAs.
"We have deployed a PDA solution that in just six months has
eliminated $150,000 in paper costs and reduced the need for data
entry personnel, as well as significantly improved our paper-based
process," he said.
For more information: http://avantgo.com/news/press/press_archive/2002/release04_11_02.html
MobileInfo.com’s Comments & Advisory: We agree
with AvantGo's findings that there is a great potential to make
physicians more productive through the use of handheld devices.
These professionals are expensive resource and can easily afford the
devices and wireless data services for routine activities. Several
Internet-based service providers have introduced similar application
services. adoption is moving forward albeit at a slow pace. Doctors
are as prone to their age-old habits as any other profession.
Therefore, they will change slowly and gradually. But the new breed
of doctors coming off the medical schools now will change the
picture entirely.
Note: This news release may contain
forward-looking statements. Readers should take appropriate caution in
developing plans utilizing these products, services and technology
architectures. All trademarks used in this summary are
the property of their respective owners.
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