Walk a Wireless Mile - Mobile and Handheld Computing in Healthcare report from Zesearch Inc - Industry Trend or Event

Health Management Technology, August, 2001 by John Morris, Brian Zeman

Research reveals big divide in expectations versus experiences among healthcare providers.

Leadership involves linking one's vision of the future with the ability and willingness of the community to follow. Usually, the key to success is avoiding getting too far ahead of the community, instead articulating a comprehensible vision that speaks to the daily experiences of that community.

For new information technologies, this is a core requirement for "crossing the chasm" from limited market acceptance among early technology adopters to general acceptance by the mass market.

According to a recent survey research report published by Zesearch, Inc., Alpharetta, GA, it seems, for the moment, that wireless and mobile computing vendors in healthcare need to reduce the distance between visions of the wireless future and the healthcare provider community's ability to follow. In short, they need to walk a wireless mile in the shoes of physicians and other caregivers.

The report, titled "Mobile and Handheld Computing in Healthcare," shows that mobile and wireless computing in healthcare has advanced considerably in the recent past, but actual adoption of wireless technology is still somewhat uneven across provider types, and rather limited and fragmented among clinics and physician practices.

Furthermore, the report shows important differences in the perceptions of nonwireless healthcare organizations, and the actual experiences of those organizations already using some sort of wireless system. Generally, nonwireless survey respondents indicated that wireless technology was too advanced and complicated for their needs and technical abilities.

Wireless Future--When and How?

Resources dedicated to building the new and, no doubt, inevitable wireless future are plentiful and growing. Numerous niche software and solutions vendors have sprung up in the past few years: Large hardware and operating systems vendors are rolling out new and improved products; established full-service healthcare information technology (IT) vendors are beginning to build alliances and launch integrated wireless solutions; and pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy benefit managers are establishing networks of partners among wireless and IT vendors.

Even the philosophical foundation for wireless computing has been firmly established, if indirectly and unintentionally, by the Institute of Medicine's two recent reports on medical errors ("To Err is Human," 1999) and the quality of medicine ("Crossing the Quality Chasm," 2000).

The former is often cited by wireless vendors promoting the error-reduction benefits of wireless computing. The latter proposes 10 specific policy guidelines for improving the quality of care, some of which clearly could be facilitated by wireless computing.

Despite this, there are notable disconnects between the expectations of non-wireless healthcare providers and the actual experiences with this technology on the part of those providers who have implemented a wireless system. This can be seen specifically in the:

* Urban versus rural acquisition plans

* Barriers to purchase

* Acquisition criteria

* Current and expected uses of wireless technology

This suggests that many non-wireless healthcare providers may not be quite ready to be led into the wireless future. It indicates a need on the part of wireless vendors to develop and promote wireless systems and technologies that are the most immediately relevant and easily absorbed into caregivers' daily working environment.

Wireless and Mobile Computing Research

The survey research aimed at broadly covering the healthcare provider market for wireless and handheld technology, focusing on trends and possible contrasts between distinct segments of the market.

Four distinct segments of healthcare provider organizations were targeted in the research:

* Integrated delivery networks (IDNs)

* Hospitals

* Clinics

* Private physician practices

A total of 208 IT decision makers and physicians were interviewed from more than 2,000 individuals contacted. Figure 1 shows the distribution of respondents across the four respondent segments and the levels of current adoption of wireless information systems.

Figure 1
Sample Sizes and Current Wireless
Adoption Levels, Healthcare Provider
Organization Type

                      Total     Number    Percent
                      Sample   Wireless   Wireless

IDNs                    51        32        59%
Hospitals               54        20        36%
Clinics                 37         1         3%
Physician Practices     62         5         8%

The variation in adoption rates of some sort of wireless or mobile computing across organization types is notable. While more than three-fifths of IDNs reported having such a system, this was true of slightly more than one-third of hospitals, and only a handful of clinics and physician practices.

Adoption rates likely reflect both the availability of wireless and mobile solutions, and perceptions of the suitability of such technology to respondents' organizations. This can be seen in the differences in: