Color PDAs for Wireless LANs?

David Macfarlan asks: "My father owns a small medical practice and has always desired to get information to himself and his patients rapidly. With recent advancements of 802.11b and powerful Pocket PC's he's developed an itch for information-on-demand through a wireless handheld (preferrably color) while he is in the examination room. A database for the knowledge he's looking to access already exists, and can be queried via any browser. He has approached me on implimenting a system of reliable, fast PDA's which could deliver a browser-based wireless access (within 100 feet) of this system. Is there anyone who has experience with the PPC's, and could offer any suggestions as to which is best suited to such an application?"

Comments

ViewSonic's Airpanel

[acer123]

It has a much bigger screen than a pocket PC (perfect for showing charts, illustrations, etc). It is already wireless and would connect directly with your existing server. It is really just a mobile touchscreen monitor
[viewsonic.com]

Re:ViewSonic's Airpanel

[kableh]

I would second the above suggestion.

I've used ViewSonic's Viewpad 100 and 1000. The 1000 is sweet, since it is basically a PC in tablet form. Windows 2000 runs on it, and it is quick enough for most apps (600MHz Celeron I believe). The Viewpad 100 is sort of like an iPaq in tablet form, but it doesnt run PocketPC OS, so that is something to consider. I believe it runs the H/PC version of CE. And web browsing on an iPaq sucks, partly because it is underpowered. I would have to wonder how the Viewpad 100 would compare.

Then again, the Airpanel might be a better choice than the Viewpad 100, since you could run the apps on a Terminal Server, and not be hindered by trying to run IE on an ARM. Then again, you would have to consider the cost of the Windows Server license and Terminal Services licenses.

As far as security goes, I wonder if the OS on the ViewPad 100 and the Airpanel support VPN. The latest PocketPC OS has VPN functionality built in, allowing you to secure your wireless connection with PPTP.

So, to recap:

- ViewPad 1000 - Powerful, but pricey

- ViewPad 1000 - Affordable, but kinda slow?

- Airpanel - Licensing costs?

Good luck, sounds like an interesting experiment! =)

setting up PDA-PC wireless LAN

[satanami69]

I just finished doing the exact same thing.
I bought the BEFW11P1 linksys router cuz I wanted the print server and am
distributing the cable modem to two laptops and 2 desktop PCs (already had a
ethernet switch). I also bought the D-link DCF650W type 2 compact flash
wireless card. In retrospect I should bought all linksys or D-link stuff
because I had some interoperability problems at first. A couple of firmware
upgrades to the linksys box and everything works fine, but calling tech
support for both companies ended up in a finger pointing contest. Linksys
has a much better customer support dept and will get all my future business.
I also would suggest you use WEP64 or 128. The other night while surfing on
the IPAQ from My bedroom (all the way through the house and one floor up) I
lost signal to my linksys box and auto connected to somebody elses 802.11b
network. Who would figure that in the far suburbs (single famly houses on
1/2 acre lots) that I would cross connect to another wireless lan. after
thay I enabled WEP128 and haven't had any problems.

Screen Size

[ddeyoung]

I've done work for several dentists and they seem to all be interested in the latest and greatest (while not always excited about paying for it).

From the discussions I've had, they have all said that they would prefer something with a decent size screen that's wireless. When I showed them my PDA's browser, they all seemed to think it was too small.

I think something like this would be more useful. It has a PCI slot allowing a choice of wireless cards, etc. Also the Viewsonic listed above looks nice...

Siemens Simpad SL4

[repvik]

It can use 802.11b, GSM 900/1800, GPRS, Bluetooth, HSCSD and HomeRF. It's got a 8.4" TFT touchscreen (800x600 with 65535 colors), has serial, IrDA, smartcard and pccard interfaces.

What more do you need? :)

issues...

[kevin lyda]

when i first left uni, i worked for the dental school. some interesting issues cropped up when we discussed computers and patients. i only really remember these two, but make sure you work out the medical issues with your dad.

how do you sterilise a pda? pda's don't like autoclaves.

what resolution do you need to store x-ray's at? if your dad misses a tumor because the resolution isn't good enough, what will the lawyers say? and i doubt he has x-rays now online, but he might want them in the future.

Re:issues...

[Anonymous Coward]

Sterilization: Use a plastic bag. Resolution: Don't view xrays on a 3x5 inch display.

Re:issues...

[repvik]

You wouldn't need to /sterilize/ a PDA to use it in an examination room. It's not like the dear doc is going to check his mail and play quake while doing a heart transplant :) (Or for the sake of it, he's not gonna poke the patients innards with the PDA either)

My doctor has always had a desktop PC in the examination room, and I doubt that *that* is any easier to sterilize. It didn't stop him though, and I do believe it was there with no apparent danger to my life.

Re:issues...

[kevin lyda]

look, these were issues brought up by healthcare people, not me. all i suggested was that the guy should ask. i would assume like most developers/admins, issues like infection and the like (at least biological) would not be at the top of his list. hospitals and doctors offices can and frequently do have different needs then other places. and your mistakes can have personal - even mortal - effects on people, not just the normal financial or time consuming ones.

it can/should be a neat project, but this person should walk in and try to cover all the bases. alcohol wipes could take care of the pda, just warning his father on the limits of digital images and pda displays can take care of the x-ray issue. but he should bring them up and get his dad communicating with him on those kinds of issues.
and by the way, there was a story on the bbc (i think) saying that the average cubicle desk had many times more bacteria then an office toilet. and that the biggest source of bacteria was computer keyboards. so maybe those heathcare people who kept asking me about that weren't just being pains in my ass.

Re:issues...

[smatthew]

> how do you sterilise a pda? pda's don't like autoclaves.

Computers are actually the most disease ridden thing in a hospital. When the nurse or doctor walks up to the computer in the hallway to punch in an order for medication or x-rays or something, they forget to wash their hands usually. Swabbing keyboards and growing the bacteria found in them is quite often a scary proposal (i.e. if you're going to find flesh eating bacteria anywhere in a hospital, it'll be in a keyboard)

Re:issues...

[Paul Jakma]

hmmm... remember long time ago on slashdot or lwn there was an article about a hospital that used and archived x-rays digitally.

also, i used to know a fella in spain who was a programmer working at a hospital doing image processing. it wasnt x-rays, but he was working on stuff to enhance images and recognition algorithms.

basically, while i'm sure there are decisions that have to be made (resolution, etc..) there's no fundamental reason they can not be made. I mean I'm sure someone had to decide what grain film and what exposure to use for X-rays... :)

Just watch out for security

[DieNadel]

I don't know how high-profile your father's clients are, but don't forget that cracking WEP is a days (hours?) matter.
If the clients are high-profile, it's more likely that someone would want to have (or alter) data that are so confidential as these, but even if their are not, there's always someone wanting to disrupt and make a mess.
Medical records are very sensitive information. Don't leave it unencrypted (or badly encrypted). Can you imagine the damage that an altered blood type could cause? Or some information about a disease a person has?

Be careful here, ok?!

Other solutions

[Samus]

I've used a handspring and iPaq but have come to love my Sharp Zaurus. It comes with Opera as its browser but you could put KDE's konqueror on it. Text input is a pain on any pda but the Z's built in keyboard is one of the greatest enhancements to a pda I've seen so far. Its basically the same hardware as a Pocket PC but it has CF and SD built right in. I haven't tried the wireless part yet but others have had plenty success with it.
OTOH I have a gut feeling that running the Cat5 and setting up some diskless PCs as Xterminals would give you better bang for your buck and more expandibility in the app department later on.

Re:Other solutions

[Anonymous Coward]

Its basically the same hardware as a Pocket PC but it has CF and SD built right in

So does the HP Jornada and Casio E-200. No keyboard like the Sharp though.

Quick Zaurus Plug

[dmorin]

I don't know why you limited yourself to PPCs. I have my Zaurus talking 802.11b to my home network just fine. Plenty of color and resolution. And it has Opera as a browser built right in. If you need a full office suite (such as for powerpoint-like stuff) there is a company Hancom that makes a compatible office suite for it.

Sharp Zaurus SL-5500

[Space]

The Zaurus runs Linux, comes with the Opera browser, has a keyboard built in, works with many wireless CF and PCMCIA cards, and is less than the newest IPAQ. Opera has scaling built into the browser, which makes navigating a page very easy. Zoom out to view the entire page or in to read details. The screen visibility is better than the IPAQ and the Journada. It has an SD memory slot for memory expansion and a CF slot for expansion cards or memory.

Security?

[photon317]

Please, for the love of god, don't leave patient medical info floating around the airwaves unencrypted.

Medical Manager

[iago]

http://www.medicalmanager.com/products/mm/emr.htm

This company does what you are talking about and provides the PDAs, equipment and whatnot. Their backend also runs Linux (I interviewed for an R&D position there a long time ago.)

The question asked for ideas regarding PDAs and not a professional service, but in this case, especially when patients data is at risk of being lifted, I'd go with professionals.

ipaq + cisco 350

[kevin42]

I've got an ipaq 3870 with the pcmcia sleeve and a cisco 350 802.11 card. It's awesome.

If you use a cisco access point and card you can use LEAP to get real security.

The ipaq has IE and outlook on it, and has really good handwriting recognition. It also has a windows terminal services client, and there is a vnc client ported for it. I'd say it's just what you are looking for.

Re:ipaq + cisco 350

[Anonymous Coward]

Give me a break-- I've used that combo, and once you figure in the iPaq, PC card expansion unit, etc., you might as well carry around a brick...or a laptop. As a solution, it's huge, heavy, expensive, and has almost zero battery life. If you want a usable, portable system, go with a Palm m515 with Bluetooth SDIO card. Cheap (by comparison), small, battery lasts forever--no contest.

Don't do it

[zenyu]

First there is security, do you know any competent securty experts to set that up?

Then there is the fact that there is this infinitely better technology called paper out there. It's very high res, accepts many forms of input, can display just about anything and is cheap.

Re:Don't do it

[darkpurpleblob]

Then there is the fact that there is this infinitely better technology called paper out there. It's very high res, accepts many forms of input, can display just about anything and is cheap.

Sure, paper has its advantages, but when a medical practitioner has to fill out multiple copies of forms, using paper quickly beomes irritating and time consuming. The form has to be copied and then sent out to all the interested parties. Paper only allows the information contained on it to be physically available where the paper is located. Paper can also be easily lost. Using a computer allows processes to be simplified greatly and makes data available wherever a computer terminal is available. Doctors, nurses, administrators etc. can then spend more time on dealing on the more important part of their job - the health and wellbeing of their patients.

Also By Viewsonic

[superid]

I'm a very very happy owner of a Viewsonic Viewpad 100 SuperPDA and I'm using it on an 802.11b wireless LAN. Touchscreen, handwriting recognition, voice recording ( I understand there is even a voice recognition package available )

I got mine from www.infocater.com
(no affiliation, just a happy customer)

wireless and tablet pc's

[josepha48]

While this may cost more than the average handlheld, there are wireless tablets out there that do what you are talking about. I think Fijutsu(sp?) is one company that makes them. A good magazine to look at is called pen computing where they have ads for this kind of stuff. Also try here as they talk about wireless tablets and have a whole list of them. http://www.iapplianceweb.com/appDirectory/IAW_WEB_ TABLET

Watch out for HIPAA! Fines of $25,000 - $250,000

[Nonesuch]

The HIPAA regulations provide some rather severe penalties for privacy violations.

The privacy provisions of the federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), apply to health information created or maintained by health care providers who engage in certain electronic transactions, health plans, and health care clearinghouses.

In HIPAA, Congress provided penalties for covered entities that misuse personal health information.

• Civil penalties. Health plans, providers and clearinghouses that violate these standards will be subject to civil liability. Civil money penalties are $100 per violation, up to $25,000 per year for each requirement or prohibition violated.
• Criminal penalties. Congress also established criminal penalties for certain actions such as knowingly obtaining protected health information in violation of the law. Criminal penalties are up to $50,000 and one year in prison for certain offenses; up to $100,000 and up to five years in prison if the offenses are committed under "false pretenses"; and up to $250,000 and up to 10 years in prison if the offenses are committed with the intent to sell, transfer or use protected health information for commercial advantage, personal gain or malicious harm.

When you really really want a hammer...

[Bud]

... you will justify it by looking at all problems as if they were nails. I'm willing to bet big money that the clinic doesn't really need "color PDAs".

If you merely need textual and numeric information, a simple Palm will be enough, as you can fit hundreds of patients, their medication, their billing history and whatnot into the standard 8MB. The information you need is probably not time critical up to the split second, it's more like up to ten minutes or so. You get the same benefits at a fraction of the price.

If you need graphical information and it absolutely HAS to be accurate up to the split second (like in the emergency areas of a clinic), you'd better get stationary computers instead. You don't want your PDA to run out of batteries when your patient is flat out in the ER room.

Or you can just get "webpads" or "tablet computers" instead of PDAs. It's not much fun to look at 4000x4000 pixel X-ray shots on a 200x200 screen... Shop around, there are lots of different models around, some running Linux and some Windows CE. They all come with web browsers, and they all either have WLAN built in or take PCMCIA cards.

But don't get color PDAs just because they would be cool. That's not cool.

Re:When you really really want a hammer...

[darkpurpleblob]

I agree. At work I help develop a medical applications portal, and recently have been porting the basic framework for use on an iPAQ. The screen resolution and subset of HTML supported has proved to be rather limiting, and the use of the iPAQ looks like it will only be useful for a limited range of applications in a medical environment.

Stationary computers are a much more practical solution. One of our company's clients extensively use stationary computers in their emergency department, as well as wireless equiped laptops that are moved about the department on special wheeled pedestal thingees. They find standard screen resolutions adequate for viewing X-rays, but have a few high res monitors about the place if finer detail is needed.

What does he need?

[frankmu]

the question your father has to answer is what he needs, and how he will use it. i'd tend to agree with people who recomends getting a larger screen size, rather than going with a pda. i'll preface things by mentioning that i'm a practicing physician. when i did my senior research topic, i set up an ob/gyn data base.
if your father is using it to get lab data, a simple web pad should be fine. i own a zaurus, and while i like it very much, the battery life is terrible if you us a CF wireless option. How busy is his practice? i see approximately 25 to 30 patients in a day, and battery life is very important.
security isn't too big a deal as most people think. the people we have to keep medical records away from are the insurance companies.... they are who can really screw you if they get a hold of your information.
data imput is also important. for the most part, i dictate into a dictaphone my daily records. it still is the most efficient way to keep track of my thoughts and ideas. if your father is a consultant, with 45 minutes per patient, then data imput is not as important.

ideally, the device should be light weight, with a large screen (SVGA), lots of battery life, touch screen, handwritting recognition, voice recognition. it's getting there.... but i'm still waiting!

Pad type.

[BenTheDewpendent]

while pocket pcs are portable. i think sinice its in an office a pad type such as the FIC Aquapad would be well suited. You can get more info on screen at once, more difficult to steal and for people with visual imparments as well. they are color and biger and still very portable. but not a laptop or a pocket pc. get the best of both worlds.

Bigger and cheaper?

[andylaurence]

I've recently invested in a Fujitsu Point 510 from Positive Sale. It's got a 586/100 processor, which is enough for web browsing, and general simple tasks. It's got a reasonably sized touchscreen colour display, and is a decent size whilst staying small. Whilst I would not recommend the company I purchased from, I would recommend the product, and they're certainly cheap (cost me £120ukp to import to the UK). I use mine on an 802.11b wireless LAN, and it's great for changing the track on WinAmp via the snowcrash plugin. Whole house audio, anyone?

Software

[AlricTheMad]

Sine everyone seems to have covered the Secutrity & Hardware issues I would like to suggest A software solution.
I suppose you have thought about this some but are you aware of FreePM (FreePM.org).

It is a Practice Management system based on the Zope Web server.

Having the medical records served thru an intranet solves the problem of someone walking off with one of your PDA's loaded with patient record.

Appropriate security precautions must be applied of course.

AlricTheMad

iPaq + Linksys Wireless PC Card

[Anonymous Coward]

You can use an iPaq with a PCMCIA sleeve and slide in a Linksys Wireless PC Card. This is what I use at my house and it works extremely well. It would probably be prudent to secure the network though, especially if its medical and people could be hurt.

Web Target

[Anonymous Coward]

For infrared wireless connections to Palm OS PDAs check out www.tribeam.com This technology will cover a room, will not interfere with other electronics, and is light based (line of sight) so security is much tighter. Need more info? e-mail al.leinonen@tribeam.com