Panasonic Takes On The Health-Care Industry

One of the final holdouts of the paper-based office, the medical field has recently been realizing the advantages of digitizing its many processes. Additionally, a major part of the latest government stimulus package focuses on bringing health care into the 21st century. With these facts in mind, many hardware and software companies are gearing up to take advantage of this expanding market. With a base price of $2,999, Panasonic's recent entry into the fold is the Toughbook H1, a rugged tablet designed specifically as a mobile clinical assistant (MCA).

Measuring 10.4 x 10.6 x 2.3 inches at its widest points, the H1 sports two 2900mAh lithium ion batteries that Panasonic claims, together, provide up to seven hours of use. Because the batteries are hot swappable, additional spares can be charged in an optional docking cradle or four-bay charger, and the H1 can be used for an unlimited amount of time.

Enclosed in a fully rugged, fully sealed case, the lightweight (3.4 pounds with both batteries), fanless Toughbook is designed to meet MIL-STD-810F and IP541 tests, making it rain-, spill-, dust- and vibration-resistant. Panasonic's specifications claim the unit can be dropped from 3 feet while operating, and during our testing, we increased that height by about another foot or so with no issues cosmetically or functionally.

The only openings on the device are for the two batteries and the AC/DC power adapter jack. All three are sealed tight with doors that snap closed. When either of the battery doors is left open, the respective battery's charging light on the front panel flashes in warning.

The H1 is bone white in color and although it has a plastic feel reminiscent of the indestructible preschool toys many of us grew up with, underneath the polycarbonate case is a magnesium-alloy chassis. The 80-GB hard drive is shock-mounted, which adds to its durability.

Specs are similar to many other UMPCs and current netbooks. It is driven by an Intel Atom Z540 processor running at 1.86GHz, and it has 1 GB of DDR2 RAM. The model comes standard with Microsoft Windows Vista Business, but there is also an option to downgrade to Windows XP Tablet, which is what our evaluation unit had. Using Primate Labs' benchmarking tool, Geekbench2, the H1 scored a 940 -- respectable given its specifications.

Reviewers found using the 10.4 inch, 1,024 x 768 XGA touch screen easy, even under bright light, thanks to the effective antiglare coating. While the screen reacted nicely when using a fingertip, the Tablet version of XP is more suited to a stylus, which is also included and conveniently snaps into a clip right above the screen.

Despite the fact that the handle can be practical in certain applications, we found that it made the device a little awkward to hold during use. The same held true for the rear-mounted rubber hand strap, which, though comfortable, is positioned for the hand to be inserted from the bottom of the unit. It would probably be more ergonomic to situate it for the natural position of a hand entering from the side.

Integrated features cover the gamut of almost everything any type of business would need. There is a built-in RFID reader, 2-megapixel camera, full-resolution fingerprint reader, contactless smart card reader, 802.11 a/b/g/draft-n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0. Optional features include a 2-D barcode scanner, Gobi 3G Global Mobile Internet (WWAN) and GPS.

To the right of the screen is a series of buttons for power, camera, RFID, bar-code scanner and microphone, as well as two user-programmable shortcut buttons. This is also where the various indicator LEDs are located. A second set of buttons to activate the bar-code scanner and RFID reader is on the top of the handle. With the bar-code scanner situated on the bottom of the unit, we found the placement of these additional buttons extremely useful as a user can aim the unit at a bar code and scan it with one hand.

Because the H1 is designed specifically for the health-care industry, Panasonic has taken disinfection procedures into consideration too. The company has compiled an ongoing list of recommended disinfectant wipes (they warn against using sprays) that have been tested by wiping each area of the unit 10,000 times to ensure they do not cause damage.

There is also a Sanitation Reminder System application that prompts the user to clean the device at predetermined time intervals. When cleaning, the application helps by displaying a transparent blue "coating" over the entire screen. As the touch screen is wiped down, the coating disappears, letting the user know which areas of the screen have not been sanitized. The system also maintains a record of device cleaning for infection-control management and auditing purposes.

With the Toughbook H1, Panasonic addresses many of the issues required in an MCA. It is quiet and cool, extremely easy to keep sanitized and the extended battery life and hot-swappable batteries enable it to last as long as necessary. With nearly $20 billion of government money earmarked to modernize the health-care industry over the next five years, the timing is nearly perfect for it to help elevate Panasonic to key player status in a market where the company is playing catch-up.