COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Mobile clinical assistants - the Intel-designed,healthcare-specific mobile computing devices - may be enjoying the highest visibility of any new technology on the exhibit floor at the World of Health Information Technology conference.

The small white devices with the built-in handles made their debut last year at the WoHIT show in Vienna with models from Motion Computing and Philips. This year, Panasonic joins the fray and has undertaken a major marketing effort to position themselves in the new niche. In fact, it's impossible to visit a hotel or transportation hub and not see an ad for the CF-H1 Toughbook.

"We really went for it," Chris Bye, managing director for Panasonic Computer Products Europe said of the product marketing. "It's a significant step forward for Panasonic... We have spent a number of years developing this product listening to the people that count and we are confident that it will completely transform the way clinicians operate today and in the future."

The CF-H1, developed with Intel, is Panasonic's first product to be globally launched in Europe. Bye said the product has specific importance to the European market within organizations such as the National Health Service's Connecting for Health. The MCA's features include a 10.4-inch screen, a 1.5 kilogram weight, a 6.5-hour battery life and - for infection control purposes - no fan.

But Panasonic isn't the only new MCA manufacturer at WoHIT. Tapei-based Advantech is also showing conference attendees prototypes of its entry, due out in Q1 of 2009.

"We think it is good to have four supplies in the market," said Advantech's product sales manager, Reiner Middel. He said that if a single vendor brought a new form factor to the industry, it might prove difficult to get buy-in from providers. "They might not trust it...Will it be around? With four suppliers, you know it is well-supported."

Motion is already focusing on results achieved by users of its C5 MCA. At WoHIT, representatives from Royal Salford Foundation NHS Trust, The Learning Clinic, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and Great Ormond Street NHS Trust will share experiences, best practices and results from their use of C5 MCAs. In one case study, the use of the C5 MCA with its electronic medical record solution helped to eliminate phlebotomists' paperwork, enhancing their productivity by 20 percent.