The National Park Medical Center said the patient rooms and waiting areas now feature a network of wireless Web Pads, a tablet-style access terminal slightly larger than an Etch-A-Sketch that can be operated by touching the screen or by using an optional keyboard.

erry Mabry, NPMC's CEO, said providing Web access is the first phase of an effort to bring the electronic age to patients and families.
Mabry said the hospital also plans to install an electronic kiosk system in public areas that includes hospital maps and access to physician directories, the hospital directory of services, patient education information and procedures performed at NPMC.

The system was designed by MediNet Systems of Jackson, Miss. Bill Huff, president of MediNet Systems, said the hospital is one of the first in the nation to provide Internet equipment.
Mabry said the access is free to the patient, the same as telephones and televisions.

We believe that the connectivity that this offers, allowing patients and families to communicate with each other, is extremely important and should be part of the hospital stay, Huff said.

One patient said it provided her daughter a way to get her college work done on time during a family illness, he said.

Another patient said it allowed her to keep her overseas family updated during the hospitalization of a loved one, Mabry said.

The devices are tethered to prevent one from being dropped on the floor or taken from a room. The devices are useless, anyway, once disconnected from the hospital's wireless network.

New mothers can electronically send photographs of their babies to friends and family, Huff said. Brian Bell, NPMC director of marketing, said the details of that portion of the system are still being worked out.

Huff said the Web Pads offer broadband Internet access, which is filtered not only to prevent access to objectionable content, but to allow physicians to tailor patients' access to medical information.

The system is designed to allow physicians to create preferred content that they can review with a patient in their room. The patient could later review the information with family members.