Six out of 10 doctors prefer iPhones
Healthcare professionals would seem a natural market for smartphones, especially if the Obama administration makes good its campaign promise to computerize U.S. health care records.
But which smartphone will doctors and nurses be using?
Software Advice, an Austin-based resource for software buyers, tried to answer that question last week. In what it admits was not a "super-scientific" survey, it e-mailed a questionnaire to 700 healthcare professionals and processed 71 replies. The results, released on Tuesday, show an interesting mix of preferences that vary according to job description.
Doctors, nurses and and students showed a strong preference for the Apple (AAPL) iPhone. IT professionals, who seem to have sampled a wider range of devices, also preferred the iPhone, but not as strongly. Health administrators — at least the ones who replied to the survey — were unanimous in their preference for Research in Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry. The Palm (PALM) Pre was a strong second among students.
As the report notes, "most people, regardless of brand, were satisfied with their phones." The Pre and Google (GOOG) Android phones were the only devices to get 100% ratings from their users. The iPhone scored somewhere in the 90s, Microsoft (MSFT)'s Windows Mobile in the 60s, and the BlackBerry around 50% — equally divided between satisfied and not satisfied. (See below.)
Finally, the Software Advice report compared what health professionals are currently doing with their smartphones with what they hope to do in the future. The only health-related activity in wide use today is prescription drug reference, thanks no doubt to the popularity of the Epocrates app, which runs in various versions on the iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm and Windows Mobile devices.
But in the future, as Obama and these health professionals see it, smartphones could be used for a wide variety of tasks, including tracking patients, ordering lab tests, viewing X-rays and CAT scans, making clinical decisions and "e-prescribing" drugs. See charts below:
Six out of 10 doctors isn't a bad result for Apple. On the other hand, a quick Google search reveals that six out of 10 doctors also recommend the wrong treatment for infants with milk allergies, don't understand how private health plans work and smoke Camel cigarettes — or at least they used to.
Way to set statistics back 10 years. As a Math major who has his emphasis in statistical analysis, I cried a little when the article didn't stop after citing such an absurdly small sample size trying to analyze so many factors.
I mean, given the stratification of phone users in general, I can assume maybe 1-2 users of the Pre responded. Which certainly can't represent 100% satisfaction.
Also doesn't have anyway to factor in issues like the fact that students would rarely fill in a random survey like this via e-mail. I would have reported the e-mail as spam at my University.
Well i think apple is the best phone ever they have changed the concept of mobile phone as they come up with the softest but reliable touch screen system. And Now they are coming up with new Apple Tablet PC which will be out next month here in UK. Yes it is true. Here is the information http://www.domesticutilities.com/apple.htm I think google is going to make bare money as they are launching in one of the biggest human market of the world china. Well good luck to google and apple.
I would prefer to get data facts from Wikipedia than this article. It was a nice attempt, but when your sample size equals a little over 70, the only conclusion that you can come up with is that you need to go back to college and learn market research and data analysis all over again.
I work for a drug information company and you could never make me believe that Blackberry only has 50% approval.
PS: Change the title of this article, it leads to many people to actually think its worth looking at
Hmmmm, while the sample size is low, and detailed analysis is not possible, there is some information that can be gained here.
Since the sample is random, we can assume that the basic data represents the general whole.
I see that iPhone seems to have a general preference here. And when you figure in its ease of use and many apps, that makes total sense.
Now if you are a pre owner, or a rim owner, you may not like the data but it is pretty consistent.
Just a thought.
en
with headline like that and based on very little data I'd say you should change the name of your column to "Mac news that creates the reality distortion field".
Well there goes the "coolness" factor! I love my iphone but cannot stand doctors! They are so technology inept.
With only 71 responses, and no information as to how many respondents there were by profession and by smart phone used, the graphs "Smartphone use by Profession" and "Satisfaction High for Smartphones in General" are meaningless.
This is the quality of work one might expect from a high school student, not a so-called professional business.
71 replies across 6 professions? That guarantees at least one of the professions' statistics represents fewer than 12 respondents. That's not just "not super scientific"; it's anecdotal, and on par with "my brother in law prefers his iPhone, as does my neighbor."
No survey with a sample this small should be referred to as "data", nor should articles based on them have splashy charts and "6 out of 10"-style headlines.
I like my iPhone as much as anyone else does (n=1), but I'm hardly a data set.
Why not do your own survey?!!
I'll help. My brother the cardiothoracic surgeon uses a Treo. My sister, the pediatrician uses a feature phone. My brother, the internist uses an iPhone. My mom's neurologist and microsurgeon use iPhones. I have not seen any of her other doctors use phones. So, in my anecdotal survey, of the 5 doctors I know who have cellphones, 4 are using smartphones and 3 of those are iPhones, exactly 75%. My survey was "super-scientific"! I guarantee it!