Study: Dramatic spike in physician smartphone use predicted

According to new research from analyst firm The Diffusion Group, the number of active physicians using Internet-enabled smartphones should hit 70 percent within four years.  That's a net growth rate of 51 percent between 2006 and 2011, according to TDG.

To some extent, the pervasive presence of such devices in the business world generally must be having some impact, but the trend is also being driven by the growing existence of compelling healthcare applications, according to analyst Alex Kasten. In some cases, he notes, the applications are being developed by the physicians themselves. Not only that, there's a range of market forces promoting the use of e-health applications for mobile devices, including consumer smartphone adoption and wider availability of digital health data, the firm notes.

To learn more about the study:
- read this Diffusion Group press release

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