Company teamed up with Intel and tested prototypes with hospital workers to create a tablet PC that will help doctors and nurses be more efficient Promising to save doctors and nurses from as much as 60 minutes of paperwork per day, Motion Computing announced a tablet PC for hospital workers.The C5 is an MCA (mobile clinical assistant) computer based on Intel’s Centrino wireless notebook platform and Core Solo processor. The three-pound computer runs Microsoft’s Vista or XP operating system and has built-in 802.11 wireless connectivity. It has five features added specifically for the medical market: it is disinfectable and rugged, and it has a barcode scanner, a digital camera, and an RFID reader for user log-on.Together, those functions will allow doctors, nurses, and clinicians to do less paperwork, see more patients, and make fewer errors, said Scott Eckert, CEO of Motion Computing, in Austin, Texas. “The basic thing they’re looking for is more time spent with patients and less time spent with charts,” Eckert said in a webcast Tuesday.Researchers from Motion Computing and Intel spent 18 months interviewing hospital workers as they tested prototypes of the tablet ranging from a wooden block to an early version code-named “Oak City,” said Louis Burns, general manager of Intel’s digital health group.Compared to the clipboard, scanner, and cart-mounted computer on wheels often used in hospitals today, the MCA is more compact, portable, and lightweight, allowing medical workers to match the barcode on each bottle of drugs to a patient’s wrist band, Eckert said. Motion’s other products include the LE1600 and LS800 tablet PCs, used in fields like health care, life sciences, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, education, and government. The company plans to launch an improved slate tablet called the LE1700 in late March.Intel contributed its Centrino mobility platform to the project as well as market research and technology ties with software providers. Intel sees the health market as a rich vein for future chip demand.Motion Computing will launch the C5 in 25 countries by May, selling it for $2,199. The basic unit has three to four hours battery life at full usage, and users can choose to buy designs with better batteries, faster processors or larger hard drives. Technology Industry