"Residents face a vast and increasing workload packed into tightly regulated hours," said the study's first author, Dr. Bhakti Patel, a pulmonary critical care fellow at the University of Chicago School of Medicine. "They spend much of their time completing documentation and updating patient charts. This study indicates that personal mobile computers can streamline that process."

When residents were asked how their work was affected by having an iPad, nearly 90% said they routinely used it for clinical duties; 78% said it made them more efficient; and 68% reported that it averted patient care delays.

Researchers also collected data from the hospital's EHR system, comparing intern order placement for a three-month period prior to issuing the iPads and after. The iPads helped residents submit 5% more orders before 7 a.m. rounds, when they update senior physicians about overnight admissions. And they placed 8% more orders before handing off their responsibilities and leaving the hospital by 1 p.m., as required by duty-hour rules.

"We were encouraged to see that this technology could enhance patient care in the setting of restricted resident duty hours," Dr. Christopher Chapman, the current chief resident of the internal medicine residency program at the University of Chicago Medicine, said in the research letter.

Medical residents at the University of Chicago using iPads