Report: Docs are adopting tablets more than you think
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Adoption of tablets for professional purposes almost doubled since 2011, reaching 62 percent in 2012, with the iPad (Apple) being the dominant platform, the New York City-based company reported. “ Furthermore, one-half of tablet-owning physicians have used their device at the point-of-care.”
The study surveyed 3,015 U.S. practicing physicians online in the first quarter 2012 across more than 25 specialties.
According to the report, titled “Taking the Pulse U.S. 2012”, physicians with three screens (tablets, smartphones and desktops/laptops) spend more time online on each device and go online more often during the workday than physicians with one or two screens.
Adoption of physician-only social networks remained flat between 2011 and 2012, the report noted. “Additionally, the study found that physicians reach out more frequently to and are more influenced by colleagues they formed relationships with at school or at work than peers who they first connected with online.”
For educational purposes, physicians preferred moving images, according to the report, where more than two-thirds of responding physicians use video to learn and keep up-to-date with clinical information.
“The skyrocketing adoption rates of tablets alone, especially iPads, means healthcare stakeholders should revisit many of their assumptions about reaching and engaging with this audience,” the report concluded.