UK hospitals improve workflow with tablet computers

Following the full-scale deployment of tablet computers equipped with all necessary applications, nurses at the Nottingham University Hospital in the UK have cut the time they spend in the office by almost half, CIO magazine reports.

Previously, according to the news provider, nurses at Nottingham would spend as much as 97 percent of their day in ward offices on desktop computers and telephones. Now, however, they spend only about 40 percent of the day in the office, while the rest is spent visiting patients.

"By using [a mobile] app, so much clinical time has been put back into the organization," Nottingham's director of IT Services Andrew Fearn told CIO. "We've got massive patient safety benefits but also it changes the way we work -- there is more time to look after patients."

Nowhere has the implementation of tablet computers and mobile apps provided more benefits than with Nottingham's after-hours program, Hospital@Night. With fewer and less-experienced doctors on call, the technology helps caregivers see all the patients they need to.

Traditionally slow to adopt new technology, many hospitals are now using mobile devices and supporting applications on a regular basis, experts note. The increases in productivity are translating into improved patient care.