Take One iPad and Call Me in the Morning

Apple doesn’t need to hit it out of the park to win small-business users when it introduces its new IPad 2 today (March. 2). It’s already scored a home run with one group: health care professionals (HCPs).

According to a survey of health care workers conducted by Aptilon, a health care marketing company, 79 percent would choose Apple’s iPad for professional use. Their 4-to-1 preference for the iPad stands in sharp contrast with Windows PC and Android-based tablets at 12 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Part of this preference, no doubt, comes from the iPad’s first-mover advantage when it was the only game in town and had a 95 percent market penetration. But even as new Android-based tablets like the Samsung Galaxy ramp up their assault on the consumer market, the iPad still has a sizeable lock on mind share.

But the preference of HCPs for these devices is not just for fun and games, the survey showed. Among HCPs who already have an iPad, 59 percent said they use the device for medical tasks, including receiving and reviewing information updates, as a tool during their standard practice and to complete paperwork.

The iPad is rapidly becoming an essential platform for the health care profession. Within the next year, about 38 percent of all U.S. HCPs will own one of the Apple devices. Additional survey respondents said they would use an iPad if supplied to them by a third party or an employer.

“The research indicates that an Apple iPad is going to be an ever more important part of a HCP’s daily life as a tool to enhance productivity and remain up to date with the latest developments in their medical field,” said Mark Benthin, Aptilon’s COO.

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Reach BusinessNewsDaily senior writer Ned Smith at nsmith@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @nedbsmith.