Personal Digital Assistant in an orthopaedic wireless ward: the HandHealth project.

Personal Digital Assistant devices are becoming a frequently used device for the bedside care of the patient. Ways of application are many, but limitations are also numerous. Input device and monitor resolution are limited by the device size. Moreover, the choice of specific programs and the amount of storable data are limited by the quantity of memory. During HandHealth project a system was developed using a different point of view. Personal Digital Assistant is only a means to access data and use functionalities that are stored in a remote server. Using that system patient ward note can be showed and collected on the handheld device but saved directly on the Hospital Information System. Medical images can be showed on the device display, but also transferred to a high-resolution monitor. Large amount of data can be dictated and translated by remote continuous speech recognition.