Guest iPhone review from The Doc

This blog entry is from my brother.  He is a Doctor who recently acquired an iPhone.  I asked him to write a review from his point of view. And here it is …

As a physician (anesthesiologist), I have tried using both a Blackberry and a Palm Treo with only varying success as a useful tool for me; then along came the iPhone ...

The needs of physicians and different specialties vary, so our needs are different from a businessman.

Everyday,  I was carrying three devices to work: my cell phone, my Palm Pilot, and my iPod. Now, I carry one device.

The cell phone has long ago done away with the need for long-range pagers. My office or a nurse can call or text messages me on my cell phone at any time. This is true on all devices.

The Good:

The iPhone is great, yet I still use my old iPod in the operating room. Yes, we play music in the operating room. Patients enjoy listing to something familiar during their procedures. The operating room is my “office”;  I spend 80+ percent of my time in an operating room during the day. Myself,  the surgeon, the scrub and circulating nurses all enjoy listening to music during the day.

Because the operating room is truly my office, as I spend 7–10 hours per day in the OR, my “connectivity” needs are different than someone who has access to a laptop or desktop computer during the day. This is the area where the iPhone excels. I can get my e-mail, text messages, phone messages, etc. very easily on the iPhone. The other area which I find the iPhone to be far superior to its competitors is in its Web-browsing capability. Our hospital has an EMR (electronic medical record). I can access this from the OR by using my username and password. The ease of expanding the screen and point and touch (instead of point and click) is great. I can check orders, test results, check EKG's physician consultations, and radiology reports online very easily. This was not possible, or very difficult, on the Blackberry and Treo. I can also do online physician order entry and “electronically sign” my orders with the iPhone. Even though I cannot download a medical application, like the drug database epocrates, onto the iPhone, I can access it online very easily using my username and password.

The iPhone has really made my life much easier. Instead of scurrying around in-between cases to get to a computer to get info, I do it with ease. If there is something missing or awry with my next patient, I know about it ahead of time, can call the nurse in the preadmissions unit or consulting physician, and get clarification before the patient is ready to go to the OR.

The Bad

What comes on the iPhone is what you get. I cannot download medical applications, like drug databases or text material onto the iPhone the way I could on my Palm Pilot.

Why did they make the headphone jack too deep – so that I need to buy a $15 extender??

The iPhone is not friendly when answering a phone call in the car. It takes too many steps. First, I have to slide the unlock button, then answer the phone, then tell the iPhone whether I want to answer it by my Bluetooth, the speaker phone, or the regular phone. This is a 55-mph wreck waiting to happen, and I’m too young to be an organ donor!

 It also doesn’t have the one-touch “Call my brother at work” voice commands. With all the bells and whistles that this well-designed device has, it should have voice-activated calling!

The phone function works well and the quality is good, just not in the car!!