Table 5.

Table 5. Potential Benefits of Enhanced Handheld Computer Technology: The Clinicians’ Wishlist for Future Improvements

Category	Examples of responses
Increased point-of-care availability of clinical data	A simple electronic medical records program that would be accessible from several locations (office, nursing home, hospital).
	Patient charts that can be accessed by all providers taking care of a particular patient to help decrease duplication of tests and to increase knowledge of all current medical problems and medications.
Enhanced wireless connectivity	Ability to communicate directly to HCs used by the majority of specialists with whom I routinely consult.
	Continuous link to online health information such as “Up To Date”.
Electronic prescribing and wireless computerized order entry	Electronic prescribing with direct transmission to patient’s pharmacy. Prescription writing integrated with a drug reference guide.
Voice and handwriting recognition	Voice recognition for order entry and dictation and a link to my office EMR. Handwriting recognition so notes could be hand written but would appear in type.
More intelligent prescribing	Software that would let you enter diagnoses and help select medications for patients with multiple medical problems.
	A diagnostic program that would link a possible adverse drug event and the drug interaction program.
Improved hardware	Larger screen, longer battery life, faster, lighter, better graphics and hack proof.
	Wearable computer: size of the HC; power of the tablet PC; wireless; with virtual display; voice recognition; natural language processing; integrated medical/health record; clinical reference guides, Medline search and artificial intelligence capabilities.

Abbreviations: HC=handheld computer; EMR=electronic medical record.