Manhattan Research has published its latest Taking the Pulse report.

This annual market research study and syndicated advisory service focuses on how U.S. physicians use the Internet, digital media, mobile devices and other technologies for professional purposes and patient interaction.

According to Manhattan Research, the study is fielded annually in Q1 among more than 3,000 physicians.

The latest findings show that while smartphone, desktop and laptop use are largely consistent with previous numbers, the rate of tablet adoption among doctors has now skyrocketed to 72 percent.

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Cedars-Sinai hospital is touting a new program dubbed “BabyTime.”

The program in question uses Apple’s iPad to help mothers stay connected to their newborns, particularly in cases when they aren’t able to physically move shortly after giving birth.

The effort leverages the video messaging service made possible by the iOS-powered tablet, which creates a remote presence link between a new mother’s hospital room and the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

“BabyTime will help bridge communication with the family and the baby’s medical team and is an excellent use of technology to help new mothers bond with their babies, even when they cannot be physically at their babies’ bedside,” explains Dr. Charles F. Simmons Jr., chair of the Cedars-Sinai Department of Pediatrics and Ruth and Harry Roman Chair in Neonatology. “When doctors and nurses are treating a newborn in the NICU, mom can be right there asking questions and getting updates, even if she’s on a different floor.”

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Mayo Clinic announced today that it’s physicians in Arizona are proving that tablet computers can be used to comprehensively and accurately analyze electroencephalogram or EEG results outside of the clinic or hospital.

An EEG is a procedure that attaches electrodes to a patient’s scalp to detect electrical activity in the brain.

“The fact that this gives doctors the ability to read EEG results from anywhere can only help patients in the long run,” explains Dr. Matthew Hoerth, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

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Apple spotlighted a new profile from Bloomberg on its official website today that highlights the incredible work of Ed Summers, head of accessibility at international software company SAS.

According to today’s report, Summers “has made it his mission to help other visually impaired people unlock the power of the iPad.”

Summers is traveling around the United States to teach educators how to maximize the device’s built-in accessibility features in their classrooms.

Apple says that tablets are growing in popularity among educators. In particular, Summers says the iPad is “opening up a whole world” for visually impaired students.

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Dell has effectively planted its flag in the healthcare market with the unveiling of its new Latitude 10 tablet.

Delivering an assortment of industry leading attributes, the Windows 8-powered Latitude 10 also serves up built-in fingerprint sensor and a smart card reader for cutting-edge authentication features.

“The Latitude 10 may be an attractive solution for long hospital shifts accessing sensitive personal data,” writes Jennifer Bresnick of EHR Intelligence.

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I came across an interesting infographic that does a great job detailing the massive growth we’re seeing in the mHealth space, as well as the overall sentiment towards mobile health technologies on behalf of American consumers and physicians alike.

According to the graphic there were more than 1 billion visits to physicians’ offices in the U.S during 2011.  According to the survey driving the data for the infographic, it was found that 40% of doctors believe mobile health technologies can reduce the number of office visits.  In addition, 80% of doctors are already using smartpthones and medical apps, of which there are more than 10,000 available in Apple’s iTunes App Store.

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GlobalMed, a company providing real-time healthcare delivery systems, has introduced a new enterprise-wide cloud-based solution that delivers visible and invisible light medical images to any Web-connected computer, tablet or smartphone.

Showcased during the HIMSS conference, the new solution — dubbed CONi — allows a physician to enter a SOAP Report that can be saved for later modification or “Finished” and placed into the patient’s medical record.  Once finished, the doctor’s notes cannot be altered or deleted.  In addition, patients and their guests can be given passcode access to their medical images with a limited amount of information.  The images are never resident on computers or mobile devices for security and patient confidentiality.

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