A Tablet PC is a notebook or slate computer with a special digitizer screen which allows users to naturally handwrite with a pen-like stylus. These computers, available from Dell , HP , Equus, Lenovo and others, are commonly available in the commercial market and run Windows Vista or XP Tablet PC Edition. Lighter and more versatile than ordinary notebook computers, they are designed for mobile use by professional personnel in many industries including healthcare. Convertible tablets include full keyboards and have a screen which swivels and locks down for mobile handwritten tablet input. Slate tablets do not have a physical keyboard by default but do include a “virtual” keyboard where letters and numbers can be tapped out if needed.

Using a Tablet PC with wired or wireless Internet connection allows the form to interface with the database to import demographics using abridged information (such as entering the Medical Record Number, Job number or Client field only) and selecting “Lookup” for pre-defined parts of the form such as demographic data, location and other details to be auto-populated from the appropriate fields in the back-end database.