Are Kindles and other readers a useful tool in healthcare? Healthcare orgs have huge amounts of paperwork and documentation they need to disseminate and make available and ereaders are cheap as chips.
As a daily commuter on the South West train line to Waterloo its been impossible not to notice the rise and rise of the Kindle over the last year. Are they a more useful mobile tool for distributing regular reading matter and materials than their more glamorous Apple rival?
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I think this will be ther version that challenges the IPAD to some extent. Not seen a relesase date for the UK as yet though.
Also to note that yesterday I was sent "New Guidance from DH concerning the use of Tablet devices in NHS environment" Which actully is quite useful for a change.
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I think you're probably right Steve - the Kindle Fire is very interesting (though not had great reviews by US tech press) as a cloud computing device. As I understand it the Fire utilises Amazon's Cloud Services so that the processing power doesn't have to be on the tablet.
Maybe the NHS or one or more of its suppliers should look at Amazon S3 as an option?
Not seen the DH guidance on tablets can you email? jon @ e-health-media.com
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I wouldn't want to try using the UK versions for pdfs, board papers etc. In theory, you can read and share documents via Kindle - but in practice the clunky navigation makes it impossible (think trying to use an old style, Nokia phone, joystick navigation...)
If Amazon can retain the Kindle's strengths (easy sale, superb connectivity, i-ink) on its new devices while bringing them into the touch-screen age, they might be interesting though.
I guess we'll have to wait for the US versions to get here. The tech press has been sniffy about the Fire. But then, it's not really the kind of blokey, geeky, 'cool' tech the tech press likes talking about...
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I think it's important to think about mobile devices as the primary means of accessing information, rather than a gadget. The NHS CFH IM&T survey shows that they are not widespread but experience in industry and with consumers shows they are catching on fast.
There are limitations. The ipad can't be easily sterilised, the NPfIT national infrastructure isn't designed with them in mind (N3 and smartcards, anyone). These need to be overcome.
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I agree about smartcard usage, I think will all depend on who and where IPAD/tablets are deployed and also what systems are needed to be accessed (See comment on BYO) ... Can we link to other comments in other groups Jon?
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Hi Steve
Yes there are no limitations on x-linking to comments, discussions on other Groups either within EHI or other networks (though usual community rules obviously apply).
However, we haven't yet put the tools in place to make this easy. We will be adding them hopefully in near future.
What would be more immediately useful - the ability to hyper-share comments made on EHI Groups to other networks i.e. LinekdIn, Twitter? Or the ability to post hyperlinks within comments?
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Links to Linkedin and Twitter would be good as there is a lot of info flying around in teh etehr that coulkd be fed into these groups that soem may never see until too late.
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While some trusts have taken to integrating apple devices, the Kindle is subject to all the same problems around durability etc. And given that the key driver for bringing iPads into hospitals is functionality, I doubt the Kindle will play a large role. From what I've seen it's going to up to the likes of Motorola to expand its range of durable hardware specific for clinician use.
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The Kindle more than any other tablet suffers from the security issues posed by cloud storage. The standard method of moving a document to a Kindle involves cloud storage, which at present likely means sharing your data across UK boundaries. Current data standards on storage and transmission of patient identifiable or NHS confidential information prohibits transmission across national boundaries except in some very stringently determined conditions. This also limits the iPad with it's cloud synchronisation and storage, but at least the iPad provides for a local synchronisation and encryption of backup.
More widespread adoption in health would be possible with an NHS cloud storage system or preferably a collaboration with box or dropbox to provide an NHS cloud with guaranteed cloud storage within the UK.
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Kindles, like all eReaders, are designed to favour information delivery (i.e. reading) more than information capture (typing / writing). However, one area where they may offer value in a hospital context is in the presentation of Patient Information Leaflet material. With multilingual display capability and variable font sizes to suit visually impaired patients, eReaders have obvious advantages over paper. Whether a Kindle would withstand the rigorous disinfectant spray needed to prevent cross contamination between patients is another question entirely.
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Kindles, like all eReaders, are better at information delivery than information capture. However, one area where they may offer value in a hospital context is in the presentation of Patient Information Leaflet material.
With multilingual display capability and variable font sizes to suit visually impaired patients, eReaders have obvious advantages over paper. Whether a Kindle would withstand the rigorous disinfectant spray needed to prevent cross contamination between patients is another question entirely.
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