Nearly 40 percent of physicians in a recent survey by Montreal-based online marketing firm Aptilon Corp. say they'll purchase an iPad in the coming year. Even better news for Apple: Nearly 60 percent of physicians who already own an iPad say they use it for medical tasks such as reviewing patient data and completing paperwork.
That's not quite the glowing report we got from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society last October, when a joint survey of 1,000 webinar attendees by BoxTone Mobile Service Management and HIMSS indicated that 25 percent of docs were rushing out to buy iPads, while another 70 percent planned to buy one in 2011.
Still, the Aptilon survey covered 341 of its online physician customers, a relatively tech-savvy group. The firm has a bit of a stake in these findings, as it provides mobile health connectivity and marketing services for pharmaceutical companies, medical devicemakers and other vendors--helping them reach physicians and others through online tools and services.
"The research indicates that the Apple iPad is going to be an ever more important part of a [healthcare professional's] daily life as a tool to enhance productivity and remaining up to date with the latest developments in their medical field," Aptilon COO Mark Benthin said, according to an announcement. "As the number of [healthcare professionals] using iPads increases, Aptilon expects to see increasing opportunities for interactions between industry professionals and [healthcare professionals] seeking relevant medical content using their tablets."
For more information:
- read this Aptilon announcement about the survey
- check out this American Medical News piece