ABSTRACT
The evolution of technology use in patient care services has been fascinating. From the first “dumb” terminals and light pens at the nurse’s stations to the use of sophisticated mobile devices at the point of care, the landscape and workflow have dramatically changed. Much like the dot.com phenomenon of days past, the healthcare market at the turn of the century was ripe for the introduction of ways to reduce the use of pen and paper in the acute care setting. Application development exploded. And, as in the dot.com era, those applications that were able to meet customer demands have survived and matured. Not only have applications matured but healthcare culture and behavior is changing as well. The expectation in these times is that hardcopy documentation is an exception rather than a rule and there should be easy ways to acquire data.
