The majority of you have seen this… but to me it is well-worth having it posted here mostly because of the enormous potential this could have. It is the type of thing that makes you sit back and wonder what it could become… (I am talking about the Microsoft Courier – video below).

Yesterday I shared this video with two of my colleagues on my current assignment. Both have been Hospital IT Directors and one is also a Nurse and Clinical Informatics expert. Both of them tried at one time or another to bring mobile technology into their large hospitals with varying degrees of success. What do you think their reaction was? They were both awe struck. In fact I would say they were even a little bit giddy about it. They began to think and talk about the potential (and especially liked the fact that it folds, is smaller than a laptop and has a touchscreen). Of course they started asking questions about whether or not it had RFID capabilities and about its ruggedness. Had I not stopped the conversation I guarantee you they would have asked me (as every nurse does when I speak of mobile technology) if it could withstand being dropped into the various and sundry fluids found in hospitals. I have only seen the video … so I don’t know the answer to those questions or if it would be part of their roadmap.

But watching the video does makes you think. And dream.

It is good to think and it is good to dream.

As we move forward with the implementation and adoption of a province wide (Ontario) electronic health record this device does show some promise. Perhaps it could help adoption for the smaller practices scattered throughout the jurisdiction (numbers vary but the number I hear often is that we have over +12,000 healthcare providers in Ontario). It is certainly portable enough for physicians to carry… But how helpful would it be for hospital based nurses who typically need both hands to do their job properly?

Those of you involved in healthcare know it is never a straightforward endeavor. No two implementations are ever alike; can you imagine tens of thousands? Several of my previous roles took me deep into the hallways, operating rooms, kitchens and sub sub-basements of hospitals across North America where I learned one thing – it is never easy and no two hospitals are alike… and even if you thought they were alike – you never ever say that to anyone in a hospital (or in healthcare for that matter). In fact I would say that in some cases it was easier for me to implement large cutbacks in non-clinical services than it was to actually implement a new technology. Of course it was also difficult to suggest a mobile strategy offering from a device manufacturer perspective since hospitals are typically looking for a device agnostic vendor with whom they have the confidence that all options will be presented.

Truly, only time will tell what comes of the Microsoft Courier. However it is good to see that they still want to be in the game. Without much further ado…

FYI – This post also marks my decision to discontinue the healthcare and technology blog over at Virtuate. Instead that blog will focus more on the change management, process transformation and training in healthcare and in hospitals. In addition to that I will post anything related to mobile health over on this blog.Similar Posts:

• Mobile Phone Use in Hospitals
• Clinical Care and Mobile Technology
• Mobility Video from IBM
• Mobile Strategy for Small Business: It’s About Local Convenience
• One thing to get rid of…
• Mobile Strategy Blog … launching m-strat.org
• Network As A Service: A Carrier’s Differentiator
• Vettro and Antenna – a few more thoughts
• 13 Things To Remember When Integrating Mobility (Or How To Avoid Process Peddlers)
• On Mobile Context