Case study: mobile working, optician service

The Outside Clinic uses tablet PCs for home eye examination service

Overview

The Outside Clinic, a home visiting optician service, provides specialty eye care to patients and clients that need healthcare services to come to them, whether at home or in a care facility.

The clinic was in search of a tablet PC capable of replacing its convertible solution and supporting its proprietary software application so that its mobile opticians could provide better patient care and be more productive in the field.

The Outside Clinic’s 55 optometrists provide home eye examination services and are equipped to detect glaucoma, cataracts and other potential visual problems. While onsite they also provide helpful advice and assist with choosing the best frames and lenses when required. Due to the number of items opticians must carry from site to site, it was important that the company identify a highly mobile, light weight solution that could easily be used in the field.

Challenge

After trialing convertible tablets, the clinic was familiar with tablet functionality but was in search of a more durable tablet, purpose-built for mobile professionals. The clinic tried hand-held devices but were still forced to use paper records due to the limitations of the devices’ small screens.

The record management process was paper-intensive, data was sent to the office after each day, but paper copies were mailed in within a few days of the visit and then input into the system. This process created delays in processing and also caused some errors due to illegible handwriting on the paper forms. The clinic needed a solution that would allow them to fully leverage electronic files, reduce paper use and improve in-the-field productivity.

After a search of available technology solutions, the Motion LE1700 quickly came to the forefront as the best solution to meet its needs. The tablet PC’s semi-rugged design, superior ergonomics, adaptable capabilities and light weight were key criteria considered when the clinic selected the devices.

The Outside Clinic purchased the LE1700s through Mobitech UK Limited, a Motion Computing reseller that sells and helps to implement tablet PCs to improve its customers’ mobile productivity.

Solution

The Outside Clinic’s Network Manager, Simon Scott, was immediately impressed with the LE1700 Tablets. “The build quality of the Motion Tablets was excellent and the ergonomics of the design showed that it was clearly built for mobile professionals,” said Simon. “We have seen multiple improvements with the tablets and the durability of the devices easily supports the mobile activities of our opticians.”

The LE1700s full processing capabilities, featuring Intel Core2 Duo processors, were also an important feature for The Outside Clinic. Having full processing capabilities ensured that the tablets would easily support its software solution that was designed specifically by the clinic’s IT staff to support the opticians in the field.

Results

The clinic is using the Motion Tablets with its proprietary .net based software solution. Now, orders are received from the opticians throughout the day and paperwork is reduced both in the field and in the office.

Additionally, with full use of the electronic records system all documents are clearly legible. Many manual steps are also reduced such as document scanning and the manual entry of patient records. The semi-rugged design is also beneficial as the devices have proven to withstand the highly mobile environment of the clinic’s mobile users.

“We are pleased with the productivity improvements we have realized after deploying the tablets and look forward to continue expanding on our solution to further improve the mobile experience of our opticians and the patient service they can now provide with immediate access to important information,” added Simon.