The Top 15 Free Medical iPad Apps For 2013

As we move into another year of the Apple iPad and tablet phenomenon, healthcare provider CIOs are wondering which apps are really beneficial to their organization on an operational level. BYOD is pushing an increasing need for mobility strategies and network infrastructure security, and the iPad craze really means one thing: more work for the healthcare CIO.

Mobile technology has the ability to transform patient care, and while many innovative developers have created free apps that have the ability to drive healthcare into the future of the industry, the iTunes store still remains cluttered with useless duds that simply do not make a clinician’s life easier, thus prompting the need for a comprehensive guide listing the top free medical iPad Apps that healthcare CIOs should consider. And, hey—they’re free!

Below are the 15 most sought-after free medical iPad applications (in no particular order) that all medical professionals with iPads should (must) have, based on a list compiled by iMedicalApps.com, as well as the Apple App Store statistics, deeming these medical applications highest rated and most downloaded.

1. Medscape
2. MicroMedex Drug Information
3. ICD 10 Lite 2013
4. Calculate by QxMD
5. AHRQ ePSS
6. Draw MD series
7. Radiology 2.0: One Night in the ED
8.  iLarynx
9.  inMotion 3D
10.  Cancer.net Mobile
11.  iTriage
12. Lexicomp
13.  Omnio
14. Skyscape Medical Resources 

Medical professionals want to be able to do their jobs more quickly and efficiently and iPad applications, like those mentioned, answer their questions and access their patients’ data in ways they never thought possible. For this reason, many healthcare CIOs have been challenged with the task of distributing or securing iPads on their IT infrastructure.

“Members of our medical staff have said that they love using iPads applications because of the constant connectedness that iPads offer,” said Patrick Wilson, department information security officer at Contra Costa County Health Services.

IT vendors have noticed the significant increase in the need, and desire, for iPads in the healthcare space and are working diligently to provide the best solutions for all their infrastructure and security needs. In a conversation with Mark Hanson, director of strategic accounts for healthcare at Fortinet, he said: “I definitely think those iPad applications are absolutely worth the risks.”

The patients are more and more efficient at understanding what their ailments are; so healthcare professionals have to be able to enable their physicians to understand the latest information on specific problems their patients are facing. IT companies like Fortinet are stepping in to integrate and prevent those devices from infecting the networks and spreading that infection. “Having security-based Wi-Fi devices, like what we offer, are key requirements for healthcare CIOs today when implementing iPad application solutions,” said Hanson.