Tablets beginning to emerge in healthcare settings

The healthcare sector is undergoing a massive technological overhaul, with tablets arising to replace inconvenient paper-based clipboards and charts traditionally used in doctor's offices.

One doctor believes this transition is moving ahead smoothly. Graeme Gibson, a full-time chiropractor at one of the first healthcare organizations in the state of Washington to fully adopt new health records technology, wrote in a recent report for tablet and e-reader news site Good eReader that tablets have the potential to transform the entire U.S. healthcare sector.

"While we were able to work out many of the kinks of procedures to make them maximally effective, the recent improvements of tablets and e-readers have been a game-changer," Gibson wrote for the news provider. "It seems that our office was just a little ahead of its time, and now that our practice management software includes support for tablet computers, we have been able to complete our transition to a fully networked, paper-free office."

As the benefits of tablets' mobility and high-power computing capacity attract organizations in several other industries, sales are expected to reach new highs. According to market research firm In-Stat, tablet sales will reach 172.4 million by 2015.