Smart-Phone Makers Call the Doctor

The medical waistband is the latest front in the battle among smart-phone makers for the business customer. Pagers have long reigned in hospitals, where they are prized for their dependability. But with doctors treating more patients and hospitals facing pressure to be more efficient, companies like Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd. see an opportunity to peddle their devices. Last month, Stanford Hospital & Clinics, started a trial with Apple and Epic Systems Corp., a provider of health-care information systems, to test software that will let medical staff access patient charts on Apple's iPhone. Stanford is studying ways to use the devices to reduce the risk of error as patient care is increasingly handed off from one doctor to another, says Pravene Nath, chief medical information officer.