SPOTLIGHT: As Apple launches iPad, Microsoft pushes Windows tablets for EMRs

As Apple was releasing its much-anticipated iPad (Is it a tablet computer or just a glorified iPod Touch, anyway?) on Wednesday, Microsoft was preparing to fight back in the healthcare sphere. Writing at the Microsoft HealthBlog, Dr. Bill Crounse, senior director for worldwide health at the Redmond Empire, reminds readers that Windows-based tablets have been used in healthcare for years. Crounse interviews a California physician who has been using Microsoft Office OneNote on a tablet PC as "the official EMR for his office" for the last three years. "The digital inking of a tablet with drawing capabilities of OneNote provide a platform where a conventional EMR falls short," adds Fritz Switzer, founder of the Ablet Factory, which produces a low-cost EMR specifically for Windows tablets. The downside is that the product isn't certified and thus won't get you federal EMR stimulus money. Blog item