Yesterday during the HIMSS healthcare IT conference in Las Vegas, mobile network infrastructure provider Aruba Networks released results of a recent survey showing that 85% of hospitals are currently providing access to personal mobile devices.

In addition, the results show that 83% of healthcare IT professionals allow iPads on their enterprise networks and 65% support iPhones and iPod Touch devices.  Interestingly, 52% of hospitals currently support Blackberry devices as well, which is interesting considering RIMs quick decline in the enterprise space over the last year.  The healthcare industry seems to be one last shining spot for RIM’s fledgling enterprise business.  Lastly, Android is gaining major momentum as well, with 46 percent of the IT professionals surveyed allowing enterprise use of the Google OS on personal phones and tablets.

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ChartLogic, a company known for its EHR suite that spans Electronic Medical Records, patient portals, billing/document management and patient education solutions, has announced a new voice recognition overlay technology designed for compatibility with all leading EHR systems.

Called “Stella,” the new solution works similar to Apple’s Siri personal assistant by leveraging the same type of cloud-based natural language processing (NLP) technology to “greatly speed workflow for physicians by enabling them to use iPads, iPhones and other mobile devices with their hospital’s EHR system.”  Voice recognition has long had a place in the healthcare space, and with the proliferation of mobile devices the concept is finally coming to fruition.

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According to new survey data out from market research firm the NPD Group, 75 percent of the small to medium healthcare practices polled are looking to buy tablet devices in 2012.

This is despite a somewhat contradictory report published recently by the West Wireless Health Institute that said less than one percent of hospitals have fully functioning tablet systems in place as we enter 2012, citing lack of development in EMR apps and others that don’t give physicians the same experience they’re used.

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Ottawa Hospital has captured the attention of the entire healthcare industry, and with good reason: They now have 3,000 iPad devices rolled out for implementation. CIO Dale Potter has committed to buying several thousand more iPads in 2012, saying that his “gut feeling” about the technology is strong. “I told our CEO he should fire me if this doesn’t work,” Potter tells TabTimes.

The TabTimes article offers several suggestions that CIOs in the U.S. should consider as they think about mobile device issues for their facilities. In particular, CIOs would be wise to focus on:

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Not even a month after announcing a pilot program that put 1,000 iPads to use in VA hospitals, the Department of Veteran Affairs has decided to go all in and purchase up to 100,000 additional iPads for use in its 152 facilities across the country.

This represents a huge first win for Apple in terms of cracking the government IT market, which is traditionally dominated by Dell and RIM.  Though iPads were chosen for this initiative, VA officials said they don’t plan to limit themselves strictly to Apple devices and will also support Android and Windows-based tablets as well.  What’s interesting is that iPads, while favorable from a consumer standpoint, don’t actually posses the technical and security features that RIM’s PlayBook has for example — requirements that would seem to be important in a healthcare setting.

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Walgreens, one of the largest pharmacies in the U.S., has announced a new initiative aimed at improving how customers administer care via prescriptions through providing real-time information in-store using new full-time “Health Guides.”

A Health Guide, which is a full-time employee stationed at 16 Walgreens stores in the Chicago area — is part of the company’s efforts to become what it calls a “health and daily living resource.”  Put simply, these health guides are iPad-toting employees that help customers with real-time health information.  “The concept is meant to create a pharmacy and health care ‘help desk’ where customers get solutions or referrals for their personal health questions,” said Colin Watts, Walgreen Co.’s chief innovation officer.

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