The wireless Web and patient care

Wireless computing, when integrated with the Web, is poised to revolutionize the practice and teaching of medicine. As vendors introduce wireless Web technologies in the medical community that have been used successfully in the business and consumer markets, clinicians can expect profound increases in the amount of patient data, as well as the ease with which those data are acquired, analyzed, and disseminated. The enabling technologies involved in this transformation to the wireless Web range from the new generation of wireless PDAs, eBooks, and wireless data acquisition peripherals to new wireless network protocols. The rate-limiting step in the application of this technology in medicine is not technology per se but rather how quickly clinicians and their patients come to accept and appreciate the benefits and limitations of the application of wireless Web technology.