What is a Medical Tablet ?

As hospitals increasingly computerize their workstations, the use of paper records has dropped considerably. While the introduction of computers in the hospital space has drastically increased their efficiency, the mobility of information that physical paper records entailed was nearly lost. This is where Medical Tablets found their niche, offering the same benefits as medical PCS and paper based records in one package. But what exactly is a medical tablet, and what are they used for?

 

Medical tablets are custom built tablets specially designed for the healthcare setting. There are many things that seperate medical tablets from their commercial counterparts, but to name a few:

 

  • Antimicrobial Enclosure – Commercial tablets are much like phones in that their surfaces are bacteria riddled, being some of the dirtiest surfaces we touch on a regular basis. Clearly in the medical setting, this would not do. Medical tablets feature antimicrobial enclosures, which inhibit the growth of bacteria on all surfaces of the tablet. All medical PCs feature such enclosures, but their inclusion on medical tablets that can be passed through multiple provider and patient hands in a day is paramount.

 

Tangent MedixT13
Tangent MedixT13
  • Hot-Swap Batteries – No one likes waiting around an outlet for hours while their phone charges, and in the medical setting there is no time to wait around while your medical tablet recharges. That’s why medical tablets like the Medix T13 Medical Tablet from Tangent come equipped with Hot-Swap battery technology, which allows for batteries to be independently charged from the tablet for later use. Hot-Swap batteries ensure that your medical tablets will have 100% uptime while on the job, and give your staff one less thing to worry about while helping patients.

 

Tangent MedixM8
Tangent MedixM8

 

  • Security Features – Abiding by HIPPA regulations is critical to hospitals providing safe and effective healthcare, and medical tablets are built to help hospitals meet these guidelines. Medical tablets like the Medix M8 Medical Tablet from Tangent have built-in smartcard readers, to ensure that only approved medical staff are accessing pertinent medical information.

 

 

These features, added together, ensure that medical tablets are the perfect computer for a wide variety of hospital computing jobs. Antimicrobial enclosures allow medical tablets to be passed between patient and staff member without worry of spreading harmful infections. Hot-Swap batteries enable medical tablets to operate on medical carts without needing to wait to be charged. Enhanced security features ensure that patient data is safe, and only accessible to those who are cleared. Medical tablets fill in the gap that paper records left when they were replaced with computers, and they fill this gap exceptionally better than paper ever could. 

 

Medical Grade PC for Hospital Performance and Efficiency

The introduction of computers in the workplace has made a litany of everyday tasks more manageable and efficient. Nowhere else is this as clearly seen than in the medical setting. Computers in hospitals have evolved from being simple filing systems to being fully integrated and specialized tools that are indispensable to everyday operations. These computers have forked from traditional workplace computers, and fall under the umbrella term, “Medical Grade PC.” Medical grade PCs are custom tailored for the hospital setting, being able to fit directly into your existing networks and customized for every situation.

 Medix KW Series

Medix KW Series

Safe And Sanitary

Medical grade PCs differ from conventional workplace PCs in many ways that directly cater to hospitals. For instance, all Medical grade PCs come equipped with an antimicrobial enclosure, which mitigates the growth of bacteria and pathogens on the surfaces of the PC. This is vital to keeping the spread of inter-hospital diseases like MRSA or E. coli at a minimum, as medical grade PCs see multiple users(thus germs) throughout the work day. Medical grade PCs give workers peace of mind, allowing them to work freely on their computer without worrying about theirs or their patient’s risk of infection. A healthy workplace is an efficient workplace, and medical grade PCs ensure that your workstations are efficient ones.

 

Versatile And Efficient

Medical workstations on wheels, also referred to as medical carts, are vital to providing medical services throughout the hospital. When equipped with medical grade PCs, these carts become invaluable to administering care to multiple patients. Conventional workplace computers rely on mounted batteries that would force medical carts to spend time out of commision while charging. Medical grade PCs such as the Medix T24B from Tangent come equipped with hot-swap battery technology, allowing for medical carts to remain fully active throughout the day. Being able to swap out batteries means that you don’t need multiple medical carts to cover ones that are charging, one medical cart with a medical grade PC equipped will perform more than adequately.

Medix T24B
Medix T24B

Clear And Accurate

Having accurate information is critical to patient care, a misdiagnosis or misinterpretation can have a lasting impact on not only your patient’s health, but your hospital’s reputation. Medical grade PCs are built with this fact in mind, and when paired with a Medical LCD Monitor from Tangent, produce precisely accurate information through DICOM technology. This technology constantly analyzes display information from your medical grade PC, compares how it should be displayed with how it will appear on screen, and adjusts the resulting image correctly to ensure that the information displayed is accurate. Whether displaying medical records or x-rays, medical LCD monitors are the best way to display information from a medical grade PC.

 

Tangent CL24 Touch Screen Medical LCD Monitor
Tangent CL24 Touch Screen Medical LCD Monitor

 

What is a Medical Grade Computer?

There’s no doubt that medical grade computers have helped hospitals and other medical institutions in unimaginable ways. But what exactly is a medical grade computer, and do they live up to the hype surrounding them? In short, there are no requirements for a computer to be labelled as a medical grade computer, however there are some standards that have been widely accepted by suppliers, buyers, and regulators. Ensuring that your medical institution has medical grade computers that not only meet these standards, but surpasses them is paramount to supplying quality care to patients and driving down costs.

Today’s medical grade computers meet certain regulatory guidelines in order to be placed in the medical setting, including CE, FCC class A and/or B, UL60601-1 and EN60601-1, and CDC guidelines. In tandem with these guidelines, other factors such as DICOM Support, antimicrobial casing, and HIPAA compliant electronic health record (EHR) support play into calling a computer a medical grade computer. These factors blend together to provide medical institutions with capabilities only medical grade computers can offer, a few are listed below.

EHR Accessibility

Quick access to patient’s records is key to quality patient care, and paper based health records are slow, inefficient, and can be easily damaged. Medical grade computers are HIPPA compliant, meaning that they are legally allowed to utilize EHR software. EHR software minimizes the risk of human error when creating health records, provide the fastest possible access to all aspects of a patient’s medical history, and do not require a massive filing system. In addition, the antimicrobial coatings of medical grade computers ensures that the spread of germs is far less likely than with paper-based records that get passed from hand-to-hand. For even quicker access, Medical Grade Tablets provide the same access to records as medical grade computers, and can be used on the go.

Medix T13
Tangent Medix T13

DICOM Support

Without accurate, color correct images on screen, doctors are prone to make easily avoidable mistakes while looking at x-rays or other medical scans. Medical grade computers with DICOM support continuously run small programs that compare how images are supposed to look with how they are being presented, and corrects the resulting image accordingly. DICOM supported Medical Grade Computers are a must-have in any diagnostic room where accurate diagnoses are required.

Tangent M24T Medical Computer
Tangent M24T Medical Computer

Antimicrobial Enclosures

As previously mentioned, medical grade computers have antimicrobial enclosures which inhibit the growth of bacteria, promoting a germ-free environment. Computers in the medical setting see a constant stream of new hands throughout the day, each pair carrying a new and distinct cocktail of bacteria. Normal computers would be a festering pool of bacteria in this environment, which is why having antimicrobial enclosures is so important. The Touch Screen Medical LCD Monitor from Tangent has this critical antimicrobial enclosure, allowing for various medical staff to access this panel without worry of spreading disease.

Tangent CL24 Touch Screen Medical LCD Monitor
Tangent CL24 Touch Screen Medical LCD Monitor

Medical grade computers are an essential tool for making your hospital a clean and efficient setting for patient care. Medical grade computers and peripherals from Tangent are a league above commercial computers, and ensure that your hospital is at the forefront of innovation.