Microsoft Office OneNote And the Ablet Factory EMR Reviewed Once More…

I know everyone today is talking about the Apple Tablet announcement today and while reading all the tablet news, I happened to run across this post from Dr. Crounse at the HealthBlog referencing Tablet PCs and thought I would look around a little bit and see what I had in the archives here regarding the portion about the Ablet Factory. I went back through my entries since 2007 and I found about ten posts about the Ablet Factory, do you think I like his stuff? Of course I do and being an avid One Note User myself and having written an EMR years ago, it fits the agenda.

One Note, once you understand the over all concept is like having each section represent a “book” you are writing. The Title is in the left hand side, the chapters go across the top, and the Pages are on the right, pretty simple. I used One Note to work a convention and walked around with a tablet and it made me very productive and the folks I spoke with were impressed to as it showed interest and I was ready to make notes on what we discussed so as not to forget and miss something.

It has been a while but at one point in time before I stopped writing code, Fritz and I talked about collaborating and shortly after that I decided to hang up the code hat (not Fritz’s fault) and switch gears, but the knowledge of data aggregation and overall how an EMR functions is still there, you learn that real well when you write one and compare notes with others who program. The One Note EMR kit is an EMR, not an EHR certified product and is perfect for a small practice or even a solo physician office and is a great way to begin. Psychiatrists do a lot of writing and thus for them it offers the ability for long either hand written or “inking to text” conversion, however you want to do it. It is modular so you can add on a couple modules if you like, but each one is only a few hundred dollars. I personally like the vocabulary plug in, use that for medical technology that I learn just by doing this blog.

I am of course very happy to see tablets making a come back, although they never died for those who saw value. Just to set the record straight here, I do like Apple products too and am working from my IMAC right now, so nobody’s feelings get riffled here. I guess the reason I have so many posts here about the Ablet Factory is that Fritz sends me an update when new versions and products become available and I post them on the blog for awareness. The tablet I use now has dual array microphones, so no headset required in a quiet to semi quiet area for me to dictate. Check out the video below from CES 2007 with Fritz doing a walk through on a tablet to show you how the software works.

The products from the Ablet Factor are affordable and definitely fill a niche in healthcare today, plus the programmer does good work (grin). In looking at my reports on what is read at the Medical Quack, I see quite a few searches and reads on One Note EMRs. BD

From Dr. Crounse:

“Of course, it’s not really so much about the device as it is what you can do with it. First and foremost, these are full-function computing and productivity solutions (unlike that shiny new Apple). Tablet PCs more closely mimic the familiar patient chart. They can be used, digital pen in hand, without feeling intrusive in the physician-patient encounter. They accommodate multi-modal data input including keyboard (when docked), digital inking, point and click, voice and even touch including multi-touch with Windows 7. The inherent speech engine in Windows Vista and Windows 7 is so good, it is even possible to do excellent speech recognition dictation if you are willing to put in a little effort up front. When connected wirelessly to a corporate network or the Internet, Tablet PCs provide instant access to the information you need, when and where you need it. They can also run all of the other applications you might want to use in your office or home.”

What Dr. Rosenbach didn’t know until I told him, was that there is actually a company that has for many years been selling an EMR solution based on Microsoft Office OneNote for the Tablet PC. That company is the Ablet Factory. I received an update from company founder, Fritz Switzer, in this morning’s mail. I had asked him to tell me what medical specialties where particularly drawn to his company’s solution.

Meet Fritz the Programmer from CES 2007 as he does a hands on demonstration.

Ablet Word Library…I like this!