Such a system would have to be easy to use and highly portable. Laptop computers have been tried, but they are too cumbersome and their batteries simply do not last long enough to be truly useful to a physician. Their battery life is long enough for most uses, and spare batteries are easy to carry along. The built-in software provides a Contacts database and Calendar for appointments, as well as Pocket Word for memos. The Handheld PC has a small keyboard and typing in a lot of text is no fun.
Physicians end up repeating themselves quite a bit in patient notes.
The ability to quickly find and reproduce previously enter information is a big time saver. Further, certain information is automatically adopted into summaries displayed at various places in the program. These represent most of the documents a physician needs to create. However, future releases will allow the physician to write his or her own note structure. The large open box in the middle of the screen displays a list of the patients.