Using tablet PCs in your practice

John Warren, OD, discussed using tablets during a special session, “Celebrating Technology,” at the 90th annual SECO International meeting in Atlanta.

Although tablet-like devices have been available for some time, Apple’s iPad revolutionized the concept by putting $499 devices in people’s hands, said the Racine, WI, optometrist, who founded RevolutionEHR, a Web-based electronic health records system for optometrists.

Tablets and EHR don’t necessarily go together, Dr. Warren said. Tablets work poorly for data entry due to the small screen size, which limits the amount of data that can be seen and entered. “None of the major systems in eyecare have released a tablet-enhanced version of their program yet,” he said.

Tablets are very useful for data and image review, however. Reviewing history with patients and showing images for patient education are ideal tasks for tablets.

Another good place for tablets is the optical. “The point-and-click or check boxes for entering optical jobs is great for tablets,” said Dr. Warren.