The mega-powered mini-sized new iPad Mini is finding a lot of takers in the healthcare industry. The Powerful A15 Bionic chip with support for super-fast 5G and the Apple pencil makes this iPad ideal for situations where you can carry it in your palm or your coat pocket and meet the rigorous requirements of the healthcare industry.
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Related reading:
- The one iPad and iPhone feature every senior should use now, according to Dr. Tommy Korn, MD
- Your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch is a powerful healthcare companion. Interview with Dr. Tommy Korn (post WWDC insight series)
- Sharp HealthCare Health Companion app leverages Apple CareKit to help patients
- How to set up and use an Apple Watch for parents or an older adult in your care
The powerful new A15 Bionic chip on the iPad Mini makes it a breeze to access EMR software right from the iPad as opposed to the traditional PCs that are humming aimlessly in the hospital corridors.
Dr. Tommy has been vocal about access issues with EMR complexity before as well. In fact, he categorically stated in one of his Linkedin posts that EMRs cause healthcare BURNOUT.
In order to find out more details, we sat down with our favorite doctor, Dr. Tommy Korn, as he has been using the new iPad Mini in his practice, and asked him a few questions about the iPad Mini’s unique appeal from his perspective.
Doc, Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. You will remember that when Apple showcased the new iPad Mini, it showed a photo of an ultrasound on the iPad Mini.
At that very moment, it was clear to us that Apple had been thinking about the healthcare industry when it designed the new mini. One would also think that the ability of the new iPad Mini to use its camera for crisp Center Stage video calls can really facilitate some remote health use cases.
Three iPad Mini Features that will help transform the healthcare industry
Since you have been using the new iPad Mini for some time now, can you provide our readers with your top three features that you think are going to be powerful catalysts for transformation in the personal health industry?
1. Touch ID
For the foreseeable future, healthcare workers will wear protective face masks for every patient encounter, no matter the setting, until the COVID pandemic resolves.
When you access an iPad multiple times a day in healthcare, Face ID becomes a friction point. It’s not practical and safe to pull your face mask down 50-75 times a day just to log in into a secured EMR app. (software that doctors use to access patient medical data).
Any login friction that causes delay causes frustration and leads to burnout. You also can’t connect your personal Apple Watch to a hospital-managed iPad to bypass Face ID. Touch ID has therefore become an “old school” technology that has become a new “guardian angel” for healthcare workers who use iPads.
2. A15 Bionic Chip combined with 5G wireless technology
– Speed and portability are vital in healthcare. With the pandemic, you want fast & instant access to patient medical data anywhere (hospital, ambulatory clinic, at home via telemedicine visit, skilled nursing facilities, etc.).
5G technologies embedded in an iPad mini allow portability for doctors and nurses to provide care and access anywhere via Telehealth. We can see detailed X-rays, MRIs, and photos of skin wounds and eyeballs instantly with 5G and clearly on the iPad mini’s high-definition liquid retina display.
The A15 chip also makes traditionally slow EMR software run much faster! This helps healthcare teams scale and improve patient access. We can see more patients because of a faster mobile tablet experience.
In a global viral pandemic, a more efficient healthcare encounter means a safer experience for everyone.
3. Form factor & center stage FaceTime front-facing camera
I rarely wear a white doctor’s coat at visits because this attire has a reputation of raising a patient’s blood pressure. However, the iPad mini’s form factor fits perfectly in the pocket of my formerly retired doctor’s lab coat! I can access patient medical data AND provide instant televideo visits (FaceTime or Doximity) from anywhere in the world.

The center stage front-facing camera technology also stabilizes my image, so televideo visits are much clearer with patients and consulting doctors. This is super important when internet connections are weak (hospital basements or rural patients in remote areas). You see fewer “POOR CONNECTION” video calls.
For doctors who conduct televideo visits, you know the improved camera tech is priceless!
Thank you, Dr. Tommy. These are amazing insights into how the new iPad Mini from Apple is shaking up the tech scene in the healthcare industry.
We look forward to hearing additional insights from you and your team in the future!!
Please let us know if you have any questions. If you haven’t tried out the new iPad Mini, we urge you to check it out at your nearest Apple store and take advantage of Apple’s great Holiday deals.
I wonder if you could say “healthcare profession” rather than the rather grotesque term “industry,” which IIRC began as a sarcastic reference to what should never, ever be construed as an industry. People are not things. Our health is not a commodity (unless we succumb to pretending it is). Treating our bodies and our health as industrial commodities is revolting and reductionist. I did not study healthcare for years in order to be a cog in an industry but rather a participant in a noble profession. Language is meaningful. Thanks for listening.