Abstract:

Background:
The Doctor of Pharmacy program in the School of Pharmacy at Northeastern University is a 6-year program that consists of didactic coursework, cooperative education, and clinical practice experiences. The School’s Department of Pharmacy Practice consists of 34 faculty who perform research and scholarship, provide clinical and professional service, and deliver most of the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum to over 800 students. Many faculty spend substantial amount of time off-campus (3-4 days/week) at hospitals, pharmacies, clinics and other health care facilities. Faculty have been long challenged to remain engaged in activities on-campus while spending much of their time off-campus.

Objectives:
The objectives of this study were to explore the potential of tablet technology to address the unique challenges of clinical faculty and to evaluate tablet utilization after a department-wide iPad initiative.

Methods:
In 2011 a needs assessment was conducted to determine faculty attitudes towards tablet technology and the potential for utilization of tablets for teaching, research and scholarship, clinical services, and overall productivity. Based on the findings, all faculty members received an iPad in April of 2012. After iPad distribution, training sessions and virtual tutorials were provided within the department with support from the university’s Education and Technology Center. An online iPad community was established to enable users to share information and pose and discuss questions. Small group discussions were held to exchange ideas about iPad use. An anonymous survey was administered 9 months after iPad distribution.

Results:
In 2011, 29 faculty (85%) responded to the needs assessment survey. Seven of them were current iPad users and 75% had external practice sites. Over 80% of the faculty were interested in using iPads. Potential use scenarios identified were: connectivity, student assessment, paper/project annotation, as a teaching tool, and as part of patient care responsibilities. Twenty-eight faculty (82%) responded to the survey 9 months after iPad distribution. Of these, 82% had external practice sites. Most commonly faculty used their iPads for connectivity with students (86%), paper/project annotation (68%), assessment (57%), and demonstration of tools used in practice (36%). For teaching, 61% used iPads in seminars/labs, 57% in the experiential setting and 43% in the classroom. Among those with clinical practice sites (n = 23), iPads were used by 39% to access electronic medical record and/or drug information resources, by 22% for medication reconciliation, and by 17% for documentation. Only 39% clinical practice sites fully supported iPad use for patient care and 68% provided WiFi access. Faculty found iPads overall beneficial: 89% agreed that iPad increased their productivity and decreased paper waste; 69% of those who used iPads for patient care agreed that it improved their efficiency; 73% and 80% agreed that iPad allowed them to try out new teaching strategies/tools in the classroom and experiential setting, respectively. Faculty reported spending an average of 75% of time on iPad for work related activities and 25% for personal use.

Conclusion:
Faculty were able to integrate tablet technology into daily workflow as it relates to teaching and overall productivity. iPad use for patient care activities depended on site support for tablet technology.

Keywords:

Tablet technology, education, health care.