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What Smartphone Is Right for Medical Professionals?

MedpageToday

If you're in the market for a smartphone, deciding the right one is no easy task.  Smart phones continue to get more and more features packed on.  Just look at the recent announcement of theand video conferencing.  The , a universally hailed phone for the Android platform will be boasting video conferencing as well. 

Front facing cameras, gyroscope motion technology, HD video recording, snapdragon processor, custom built A-4 processors, blah blah blah.  You can often get hung up on these specifications, and for some it might matter, while for others, not so much.

In order to help medical professionals decipher through this, I've made a guide comparing the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry platforms.  I’ve excluded the Palm platform and Windows mobile phones. Palm is in the process of restructuring since being , and Microsoft is in the process of -– so both currently do not possess vibrant ecosystems for app development -– and won’t be included in this discussion.

The goes into more detail about the medical use rationale and can be found , but the following is the quick hitting conclusion.

So what smartphone is best for medical professionals?

Again, the decision is complicated because it depends on your circumstance and what you’re looking for. First, determine if you would actually use a smartphone or not.

The case for a Blackberry: If you want a phone that has a great e-mail client and great security, and don’t mind a bare medical apps selection, then go with this phone. Plus, the tactile keyboard is essential to some – touch keyboards -- such as on the iPhone -- can drive people crazy.

The case for Android: The Android operating system is fragmented with the different versions of their operating system populating the marketplace, this leads to many medical apps being incompatible on older devices.  However, if you’re stuck with a carrier that is not AT&T, an Android phone is your best bet if you want to have a decent choice of medical applications. Plus, in Android's newest iteration of their operating system, Flash capability is being built in, while Apple has made it clear their mobile devices will not have Flash support.  Also, phones with fantastic hardware are being churned out on the Android platform, such as the mentioned above.

The case for the iPhone: The offers a huge choice of quality medical applications. Once you buy a medical app, you don’t have to worry about it being compatible down the line, unlike the other smart phones I’ve mentioned. Just by looking at the list of our  for the iPhone, you can tell there are plenty of quality medical apps available in the App Store. The knock on the iPhone is it’s exclusive nature with AT&T and the lack of a strong dedicated 3G internet connection, possibly problematic for medical professionals who work in or visit rural clinics.

At the end of the day, go the store, and play around with different smart phones. It’s important to understand the roadblocks to quality medical apps that I mentioned above, along with reception and security issues.  Each of the phones I’ve mentioned has its pitfalls.  Take all this into account and make a decision that reflects what you hope to gain from having a smart phone in medical practice.