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[1] WAP and the Wireless Future in Hospital Practice

Toronto, Ontario

The past few months have seen an escalation of interest in accessing the web using wireless technology. This is especially true with the emergence of digital phones using WAP (wireless application protocol) in order to provide cell phone access to special web sites, such as stock quotation sites or mobile banking sites. (WAP / WML is a global open standard for small-screen information displays. It is similar to HTML, the standard for normal web pages, but is downsized for smaller devices. Essentially this technology allows for a form of simplified web access using small handheld wireless devices)

Since the small screen size on cell phones makes web access especially difficult, many people expect WAP technologies to become increasingly popular with users of Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's), given their larger screen size. WAP modules and services for various PDA systems are at various stages of commercial maturity.

Many people expect that the emergence of wireless services for these devices will facilitate clinical care delivery. For instance, a wireless PDA network with secure access to the hospital's main information system would greatly help clinicians track patient's laboratory tests, eliminating the tedium and potential for error entailed in the manual transfer of patient data.

Similarly, password-protected wireless medication management applications might include electronic prescribing, electronic medical charting, and requests for social services or drug fulfilment by a local pharmacy.

E-mail and instant messaging services via PDAs might help a clinical team work together "seamlessly", despite being in disparate locations. (Imagine sending an e-mail or instant message to the resident working with you asking him/her to see a consult before returning to the OR. Or imagine being e-mailed a chest x-ray to review while taking call from home).

Several leading-edge health care institutions such as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have already implemented wireless Palm-based information systems for clinical use. Will it be in our future too?

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