The introduction of new touch screen tablets and pads have created a lot of interest and traction in the healthcare vertical.
The challenge is the IT healthcare organizations are often attracted to these devices because of the user experience and relatively low cost of the devices themselves.
However the initial cost of the device does not equal the total cost of actual ownership.
Let me give a few examples. First these devices and to include smart phones were not designed to work in a highly mobile WLAN environment that needs both aggressive roaming tied to enterprise security authentication. They were designed with the user experience and in the case of smart phones; a cellular connection, with WLAN as an afterthought. As a result in a traditional enterprise WLAN design while roaming, network connections can drop. This is because the WLAN client radio as a part of this low cost device is not enterprise grade. The radio was designed primarily to connect to a stationary hot spot. Here are some basic specifications of the WLAN radio that should be looked at. W-Fi Alliance certification, Cisco CCXv4, seamless roaming, WPA and WPA2, 802.1x (EAP-TLS, TTLS, PEAP, LEAP, EAP-FAST), EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA, PAP, CHAP, TLS, GTC, MS-CHAP, MSCHAPv2, 64-bit and 128-bit WPA, AES-CCMP, TKIP, 802.11w.
Second, the healthcare world tends to create havoc on mobile devices and essentially all medical equipment. Things get dropped, run over, and water and fluids are everywhere. (I have been in the clinical and surgical area for years and seen my share of stainless steel equipment damaged). So when it comes to tablets and phones, they have to be literally bullet proof. Look to these specifications. IP65 with antimicrobial coating and compliance with MIL-STD-8010G (516.6-VI. Transit drop test.)
Third, as a clinician you do not want to run out of juice (power) in the middle of a shift. The last thing you want to do is to have to find a charger and plug your mobile tablet into AC power. Having hot swappable batteries, solves this problem.
A good example of a rugged tablet with these three key clinical requirements is the CyberMed Rx medical tablet.
https://www.cybernetman.com/en/medical-tablet
