What the iPad Means for Pharma

“In the ‘always on’ environment, it becomes easy to imagine a medical app icon sitting on the same screen as a social media app and a weather app,” says Marty Hardin of Pixels & Pills. “Now, we can have a presence on a daily basis.”

A crystal-clear display and touchscreen technology coupled with its ability to connect to WiFi or 3G networks give the iPad the potential to serve a scope of healthcare needs.

Proscape Technologies (Horsham, PA) is taking early advantage of the iPad’s capabilities. Last week, the company known for its software suite for pharma sales reps introduced iShowPlayer, an app that will provide video content playback in a non-Flash player. The app is part of Proscape’s ShowPlayer line of products, allowing for a consistent navigational experience, graphical customization and seamless integration with Proscape DataTrak.

Another company first on the app scene was Nextrials (San Ramon, CA), which revealed Prism 3.0, an iPad app that will allow for mobile access to patient data for those in the clinical and healthcare fields. Prism 3.0’s electronic data capture and clinical trial data management platform will provide real-time access to data presented in the format traditionally used by Prism's desktop application.

“With its bigger screen, imaging power and a number of medical applications in development, the Apple iPad is expected to quickly advance the idea of entering data at the bedside for use in both clinical trials and a patient’s permanent electronic health record,” says James Rogers, CEO and co-founder of Nextrials.