I am not a doctor, but I do some of the same information gathering. When I am reporting at a conference, I use an iPad for all the same reasons a doctor uses one during patient consults. It’s small, it’s light, and it has an Internet connection. I can gather information in one place and access it again from another device. And, it’s easier to maintain eye contact with the person I’m interviewing if I don’t have a computer in between us.

I also take a laptop with me to conferences for the same reason most doctors still need one: access to certain software and a bigger keyboard and a mouse. As I listened to Microsoft’s Cyril Belikoff extoll the virtues of the new Surface Pro 3 during a call yesterday, I could see the new tablet replacing my own laptop. Microsoft’s latest enterprise product solves some of the problems I have with my iPad. The theme of the Surface Pro 3 launch campaign “it’s a laptop replacement!” is definitely reality-based.

Belikoff said that based on feedback from users the company focused on a slim size, a bigger screen, better battery life and productivity. Belikoff is the director of Surface marketing for SMB and enterprise at Microsoft.

“We have over 100 custom components in the device as well as new battery technology to get extended life,” he said.

The device has a 12 inch screen and battery life of up to 9 hours. It also runs all the applications people usually use on a desktop, including medical record systems.

Belikoff’s final plug for the new release was the updated hinge that allows the screen to be set at an angle as low as 150 degrees.

“The screen is upright but in a low position so it’s out of the way of other humans. It is very convenient but there is no laptop lid between the doctor and patient,” he said.

The doctor can pull the keyboard off and show the patient the details inside the record as well.

UPMC is announcing today that they are joining that list with plans to buy and roll out 2,000 Surface Pro 3 tablets over the next year. The health system also has built an interface for the Surface that connects doctors directly with all the EHR systems the hospital uses.

UPMC’s Technology Development Center is testing Convergence with its cardiologists currently.

Seattle Children’s Hospital has selected Surface Pro 3 to replace their existing laptop devices also. One doctor there listed the pen as the most impressive feature of the new tablet because writing is still the preferred method of data capture in patient encounters.

“When we have very quickly evolving situations with patients, jotting down notes is still the way that most clinicians go,” Dr. Maida Chen said. ” The fact that we can electronically do it with the ease of a pen and have electronic capture of the data, is something that would revolutionize our practice here.”

The Surface Pro 3 goes on sale to the public on June 20.

