Evaluation of handheld computers in critical care

Computing technology has the potential to significantly enhance patient car e, by allowing rapid access to patient data and management protocols. Howev er, this technology is often underutilized, due to costs and accessibility. Handheld computers may provide healthcare workers improved access to elect ronic patient records and electronic reference data. We evaluated the benef its and disadvantages of handheld computers in an academic critical care un it. Various patient management software programs and medical reference data bases were installed and utilized by healthcare personnel during a 6 month study period. Feedback was obtained from users during regular focus group m eetings. The second phase of this study evaluated electronic databases in a crossover study, comparing the accessibility of pertinent information duri ng periods with palm computers to periods where this technology was not ava ilable. Handheld computing technology was found to be beneficial, improving clinicians' knowledge of their patients and increasing their confidence in decision-making. Problems were identified with current hardware and softwa re that are being addressed.