Introduction
Apple have announced and released the first iPad in April 2010. According to Apple; it quickly found its position of being one of the most used devices as it reached 3 million sold within 80 days of its release. iPad 2 then took it to the next level as it went to 15 million people’s hands after its release date in March 2011. Since then, it became the most wanted product and used tablet device in the world. People not only admire its portability but its capability to do so many things at once. People no longer had to wait in line to fill out a form or travel long distances to meet with professionals to seek help. The iPad is used in variety of ways already. There are some people using it for entertainment purposes, for school works, and many others as it is capable of doing many works that most of computers can do. Although it is not a perfect replacement for any PC or laptops quite yet, it has become one of the most desiring devices that are both portable and smart enough to let people easily find their help without reaching for PC or laptops. It not only made a great influence in society but made stunning phenomena in medical practices like hospitals and medical schools around the globe. Medical students no longer had to bring heavy, thick texts in their backpacks and medical doctors did not have to carry stacks of patient charts. iPad, the evolutionary device, as Apple claims it to be, came to replace physical burdens and take whatever is necessary and useful. This paper, thus, discusses the benefits and advantages of iPad on legal, ethical, social, and security issues.
Background
Despite the recent death of Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple, people seem to love its product and just admire themselves for using such developed technology. But this is true not only to the consumers but specifically doctors and patients. As Elisa Sanchez says in the interview with Kellie Bramlet (2011), it became a fast, easy, and painless way to go through certain procedures (p.2). When Elisa was informed that her brother has only six months to live, according to the interview with Bramlet (2011), she did not want to think about filling out the paperwork to ensure he would receive Social Security benefits. But she had to worry no longer after finding out Covenant Health System had simplified it all. Its staff came up with a new program, allowing patients to fill out their applications for Social Security benefits for people with disabilities online using the iPad (Bramlet, 2011). Moreover, an anonymous author in private journal wrote an article titled, “Scalpel, Syringe, and iPad….” stating;
mobile devices have become as common as the stethoscope in patient's rooms. Physicians routinely review patients' electronic health records, read test results, access diagnostic tools and take patient notes, all with a few touches on their iPads or tablets or smartphones or using flash drives. These mobile devices are ideal for information sharing and time savings (Scalpel, 2011).
The author also stated off of Manhattan Research study, that sixty-four percent of physicians own smartphones and thirty percent of physicians have iPads, with another twenty-eight percent planning to buy one within six months (Scalpel, 2011). Thus, portable devices such as iPad helps doctors and patients to be more convenient when it comes to some complicated processes they have to go through.
Benefits
Benefits that iPad brings are tremendous. Elisa Sanchez mentioned above went through the process quick enough to get her brother the benefit they want in three weeks. Eric Alfaro, in the interview with Bramlet (2011) said, “It’s speeding up the process about three to five weeks. The faster the decision is made, the faster they can get their social security benefits.” Furthermore, iPad’s imaging applications that are also embedded in iPhone have brought some benefits as well. Colin Miller, PhD, Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs for BioClinica, had his sons snowboarding six hours from home, when he received a call that his youngest had been injured with a fracture and was in a hospital. So Miller directed his eldest to get the DICOM file of the clavicle fracture, decode it and email it to a radiologist friend, who himself was traveling. Within short while, his friend called and said that it is not serious after viewing the image on his iPhone. In the meantime, Miller and his wife made the drive more relaxed knowing that their son’s prognosis was good. In fact, the friend confirmed the diagnosis from his computer the next day. The same finding as what he determined from the iPhone-viewed scan (Henderson, 2011). Such incidents was brought to FDA’s attention that it approved a mobile medical imaging application for both iPad and iPhone. Also, through the development of these devices and technology, schools no longer had to ask students to buy textbooks. Instead they brought iPad to students’ desks. “We recognized that we were spending a lot of money on curriculum materials that our students were not always using and that the format of the materials was not the most conducive for learning," said Michael Schwartz, assistant dean for curriculum at Yale School of Medicine, in a press release. "We had a lot of of paper that had to be recycled, which was expensive and not very green, so we started wondering if there was a better way to do this (Gizmodo, 2011).” This policy not only saved paper but became a great way to resolve excessive paper usage that bring harms environment. Such processes have impacted medical facilities as they try to reduce the amount of paper they use as well as protect environment doing so.
Security Issues Regarding Law, Ethics, and Society
Although iPad had become one of the most desiring product and came to reduce some impact on environment, it had some problematic complication regarding security. Even though iPad is a great tool in medical society, it was found to be very vulnerable in terms of data security. It may guarantee convenience but without any data or information, there would be no use in the field of medicine. The author of “Scalpel, Syringe, and iPad…(2011)” states that in less than two years, from September 2009 through May 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights indicated that 116 data breaches of 500 records or more were the direct result of the loss or theft of a mobile device, exposing more than 1.9 million patients' personal health information. Thus some of the issues have been found and it is also found that there are some institutes that work to resolve this issue by training staffs (Scalpel, 2011).
Conclusion
Regardless of its flaws, iPad’s capability is too influential to be overlooked. Inspiring not only ordinary consumers but patients by giving simple hope and providing convenience, it has become one of the most successful items of medical industry. It is now an efficient communication tool for the doctors and patients and is a bridge that connects patients’ hopes and lives. Other researches regarding iPhone or other Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) should be made and is strongly recommended, as it will enrich the context of this paper. Other apps that could support the advantages of iPad or iPhone may also be made. Moreover, one may further research on disadvantages of portable technology such as iPad as it may bring some neglected but important elements. Overall, iPad became a evolutionary and quite revolutionary device to medicine and came to be a material that can enrich both doctors’ and patients’ lives. There is no doubt that it will be the foundation of the other devices that can do the same in generations to come as technology develops over time along with time.
