Control Tablet TCO

Total cost of ownership (TCO) has become one of the major concerns for healthcare ITDMs (healthcare IT decision makers) who have adopted tablets as an IT solution in healthcare. It is the time ITDMs should gain insight and address all challenges that are facing large scale deployment of tablets (more than 250 tablets). By doing this, they will help private and public organizations realize the full productivity of a computed tablet.


According to an online survey of more than 200 healthcare ITDMs conducted by Dell, the cost of one tablet is approximately $499. However, the total cost of securing, connecting and managing a tablet totals to about $2230. This means that securing, managing and connecting a tablet cost about 4.5 times its total purchase price.

What Healthcare ITDMs Say about Tablet Cost, functionality, security and Usage
Here is what healthcare ITDMs say about tablets:

Tablet Usage statistics
According to a survey conducted for 200 ITDMs, here is the tablet usage statistics:
  • 51 percent respondents use tablets
  • 82 percent healthcare ITDMs said that clinicians are the ones who use tablets more than anyone else in healthcare industry
  • 35 percent of people are evaluating tablets to get the best product
  • 56 percent ITDMS said that TCO can be minimized by using tablets that are integrated with the current infrastructure.
  • 65 percent of the respondents say that they purchased a tablet app to act as a mirror for that app in their laptop or desktop.
According to ITDMs response, here is what tablets are being used for in healthcare industry:
  • 30 percent people use tablets to access medical information
  • 66 percent said that tablets are used mainly in accessing and updating patient information


Tablet cost

According to healthcare ITDMs, the total cost of a single tablet is approximately $499 while the cost of connecting, securing and maintaining it is about 4.5 times that of its purchase price. They say the high cost of management comes from:
  •  Policy development
  • 1:1 provisioning
  •  Management and licensing provisioning
  • Adapting tablets for those with special needs
  •  Domain access configuration and
  • Password setting or resetting

Tablet Functionality

Healthcare says that there are some hospitals or clinical applications which cannot be accessed by tablets while others can only have limited functionality.
  •          44 percent of hospital apps cannot be accessed through a tablet
  •          41 percent of hospital apps can be accessed with a tablet but with limited functionality

Tablet Security

Here is what healthcare ITDMS says about tablet security:
  •          42 percent of respondents said that it takes 10 to 30 minutes to secure a tablet at TPM level
  •        66 percent of respondents said that unsecured tablet devices are at high risk
  •          29% of respondents said that they don’t know the annual cost of securing a tablet at TPM level

TCO Certified Tablets

TCO certified tablets manufacturers focus on the tablet’s life cycle such as sustainability and use or end of life product phases. The specific criteria focus on:

Manufacturing phase

This focuses on:
  •  Environmental management system- This shows that the manufacturing company works best to improve environment performance of the company and its products. The company should have EMAS or ISO 14001 certification
  • Social responsible manufacturing- this ensures that all the tablets follow:

o   ILO core conventions
o   Laws for labor rights
o   Rights of health and safety

Shorter life-cycles of current products have led to a push of technology companies to deliver new products at a low cost.
  •  Sustainability- It is important to use plastics that can be readily available and can be recycled. Recycled plastics are the best as they lower environmental impact in the following ways:

o   Lower up to 80% energy during their manufacture
o   Fewer raw materials are required
o   Reduce carbon dioxide effects
Source

Use Phase

This focuses on factors such as:
  • Climate- The tablet should have an external power supply. This is important since it can help avoid greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide. Energy efficiency is important as it          
  • Ergonomics- Ergonomic factors to be considered in a tablet include contrast, resolution, and luminance and color performance. Tablets should be ergonomically designed to make sure the user is comfortable. These features make sure the user escapes strain problems such as eye pain, neck and back pain. Perfect ergonomics such as full HD feature help influence productivity as well as extended life of the product.
  •  Health/safety- The tablet should have acoustic noise protection, limits on halogenated emissions and electrical safety. Any tablet should not be a source of health risks such as chemical emissions such as those causing allergic reactions.
  •  Product lifetime- The tablet should have at least a 1 year warranty. There should also be availability of for at least 3 years since the product was manufactured. Extension of tablet lifetime can help avoid growing waste stream that is hazardous and expensive to treat. Longtime products are environmental friendly.
  •  Sustainable information-This helps to calculate the impact of the tablet on the environment based on its energy consumption.

Tips for choosing a perfect tablet for healthcare
When choosing a perfect tablet, here are things you should look for:
  • Choose a tablet with low Total Cost of ownership (TCO)
  •  Choose a tablet that can easily integrate with your infrastructure
  •  Choose a tablet that has form, usability, and functions that can meet clinicians demands
  • Choose a tablet with simple security, support and management

The Bottom Line


Establishment of digitalized products in healthcare such as record keeping gadgets and cloud based apps would seem good until the move to a medical cloud was blocked by patients’ privacy and security concerns. Use of tablets by consumers and healthcare practitioners has increased in the last few years, though there are also concerns on the cost of managing the gadgets.  The cost of managing tablets has been estimated to be 4.5 times the purchase price,raising many concerns among healthcare ITDMs. This cost is high due tablet licensing, input of security features, policy developing, and provisioning. Total cost of ownership can currently be reduced by using a tablet that integrates with the existing infrastructure.
Location: New York, NY, USA

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