Health Data Management has a nice overview of point of care computing - both devices and the most commonly deployed applications. The short story: COWs (computers on wheels) are the market winner for charting, PDAs with barcode readers and COWs predominate for meds admin applications. Tablets, all the rage a few years ago, are pretty much relegated to mounting on COWs along with laptops and integrated PCs.

Missing from the survey was any mention of alarm notification or surveillance applications. The story also makes no mention of communications devices like Vocera or wireless VoIP phones.

Pictured right are a gaggle of OQO ultra mobile personal computers set up at the beginning of a trial at a major east coast hospital - a device that was overlooked in the story above.