Forrester Research surveyed 1,331 physicians and found quite a few interesting things. The report is five pages and not free ($49.99...ouch), but they provide an executive summary, and CIO Insight has a little bit longer summary.

Although there are a lot of physicians who have handheld computers, most are not using them with EMRs. It turns out that the majority of physicians who have handheld computers state "their medical practice did not have means to chart and record clinical details or enter patient prescriptions directly into an electronic system."

Here are some stats that Forrester discovered:

• U.S. physicians are five times as likely as general consumers to use handheld computers, but less than a third of physicians who have mobile electronic medical records actually use them.
• Fifty-seven percent of surveyed doctors reported using some sort of handheld computer.
• The least likely segments to use handhelds are; female doctors, older physicians, surgeons and those employed in small practices.
• General practice physicians are the most likely to use handheld computers (73%) as well as those at large practices (63%).
• Using handhelds to manage appointments and contacts was most popular.
• 65 percent physicians reported using handhelds to check medications, however only 5%-7%used the handhelds to order medications, check lab results or access patient records.
• One interesting note, "if a medical practice did support electronic prescribing, nearly three-fifths of the physicians used their handhelds to do so."