Healthcare organizations are still in the early stages of leveraging the wide range of wireless device capabilities, but expect adoption of more functionalities to increase as a more technology-savvy healthcare workforce enters the market.  While 64 percent of U.S. physicians use smartphones today, a physician report released in October 2009 by healthcare market research firm Manhattan Research projected an increase to 81 percent by 2012. The report, “Physicians in 2012: The Outlook for On Demand, Mobile, and Social Digital Media,” noted that the Internet will become the primary professional resource for physicians.

Mobile capability will become more valuable as physicians increase the number of activities, such as patient monitoring and administrative duties, that they conduct on their devices, the report said. Mobile technology will help create a more mobile ealthcare system that can bridge gaps in care as a result of the shrinking physician and nurse workforce nd the growing patient population. As C. Peter Waegemann, CEO of Medical Records Institute said, Smartphones and other mobile technologies will become major tools for physicians for improving quality of are and communicating better with patients and colleagues.”