Duke University Hospital is proving that mobile technology can truly be beneficial to those that are ready to embrace it. Residents at this hospital can keep things in check thanks to the Hewlett-Packard iPAQs and PatientKeeper software. This allows the caregiver complete access to the patients needs while on the move.

Duke freshmen may have their iPods, but they’re not the only ones with new handheld toys.

This year, Duke provided all first-year residents at Duke University Hospital with handheld personal digital assistants during their orientation in June. The residents’ Hewlett-Packard iPAQs, which normally cost between $400 and $500 each, came loaded with software from PatientKeeper, a Boston-based company with which the University recently entered into a partnership.

“The whole purpose [of the PDAs] is to really empower and to make the workflow efficient for the caregiver,” said Asif Ahmad, vice president and chief information officer for Duke University Health System.