“The Cure Is in Hand”? The Brave New World of Handheld Computers in Medicine

Abstract

According to a 2001 market report, titled “The Cure Is in Hand,” handheld computers, or personal digital assistants (PDAs), will “dramatically change the way that physicians practice medicine.” Such enthusiasm has resulted in an extraordinarily rapid diffusion of PDAs into a wide range of clinical settings. One report states that 47% of internists use PDAs once a day with rates of daily usage reaching 70% for resident physicians. Another study found clinical usage as high as 85% in teaching hospitals. The rapidly expanding employment of PDAs, however, has been uneven. Some clinicians have explored the devices’ benefits more thoroughly than their colleagues. Similarly, a number of potentially valuable uses of the handheld computer have been ignored or remain insufficiently developed by the medical community and the health delivery system at large.