Using tablet PCs in your practice

Article

John Warren, OD, discusses using tablets throughout a practice-for data and image review, patient education, and in the optical shop.

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.

Newsletter

Want more insights like this? Subscribe to Optometry Times and get clinical pearls and practice tips delivered straight to your inbox.

Recent Videos
Susana Marcos, PhD, outlines a presentation she gave at ARVO 2025 on a unique utilization of optical coherence tomography.
Karl Stonecipher ASCRS 2025
AnnMarie Hipsley, DPT, PhD, at ASCRS 2025
Neda Shamie, MD; Selina McGee, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO; and Jacob Lang, OD, FAAO; provided their insights during CIME 2025 on May 4.
At ARVO 2025, Mark Bullimore, MCOptom, PhD, emphasized the need for more accurate, condition-specific tools in evaluating myopic eye growth and treatment efficacy.
Dr Luke Lindsell discusses retinal therapy and geographic atrophy at Controversies in Modern Eye Care 2025
Neda Shamie, MD, speaks on cataract and refractive surgery at CIME 2025.
Dr Selina McGee shares thoughts on pharmacological presbyopia correction at Controversies in Modern Eye Care 2025
Paul Hammond, OD, FAAO, presents a poster at ARVO 2025 on the creation of a conversion factor between 2 OCT devices to monitor glaucoma progression
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.