Tool will pay for itself within a year
Health Sciences North has paid roughly $7,100 to purchase iPads for 10 members of the hospital's board of directors.
Four board members did not require an iPad, as they already have their own.
Over the long run, the purchase will actually save the hospital money, according to hospital senior vice-president Joe Pilon.
“With an iPad, they pay for themselves in a year for the paper for our board packages,” he said.
“Our board packages are thick, and we have to mail them out. So the cost of providing this information electronically through an iPad was significantly cheaper.”
According to information provided by hospital spokesperson Dan Lessard, the iPads are good for three years.
It costs the hospital $8,100 every year to print and ship board members packages and documents. Thus, the iPads pay for themselves after the first year, and over the next three years will save about $17,000.
When asked if iPads have been introduced anywhere else in the hospital, Pilon said they have been given to doctors in the emergency department as part of a pilot project.
He said he hasn't seen the results of this initiative yet.
Lessard said the iPad was chosen for hospital board members over laptops or other forms of technology because it was already being used in the emergency department.
“By using the iPad for the emergency department and our board members, we are standardizing our technology to minimize support costs that go along with that equipment.”
