The Palmdoc Chronicles

Saturday, January 31, 2004

ePocrates Open House

Ahhh, an Open House. That term where I live applies to one opening up your house to family, friends and even strangers during major festivities. Well, ePocrates, is having an ePocrates Rx Online™ Open House :
"For the entire month of February, you can access our internet based product which includes patient education information, pill pictures, medical equations, and clinical guidelines for free!"
What are you waiting for!

I like online Drug reference systems, handy at my desk where I have broadband. I am fortunate to be able to register with Atmedica where I get MIMs online for free. I sure hope Atmedica releases MIMs for PDAs (I know there is an Australian-NZ version but I am waiting for one applicable to my locale)

Diabetes 2.02

Wunderbar! An English version is now available .....
Talking Phrase Translator

How many languages do you speak? Where I live, there are three major ethnic groups and numerous dialects spoken. As a doctor, it is to your advantage if you can speak 2 or 3 languages in order to communicate more effectively with your patients.
At times I wished my Palm could help in the translation, but there were no "talking" Palm translation applications (there is a Talking Chinese Dictionary though) until Franklin Electronic Publishers and Mobile Digial Media teamed to come up with their Talking Phrase Translator which speaks 5 languages (English, Spanish, French, German and Italian). PalmInfoCenter has the breaking story.
It costs a very reasonable US$39.95 and runs off an MMC card. It's available now from goMDM.com

Friday, January 30, 2004

Netter's for your PDA


For the students of anatomy (boy, did I hate that subject in Med school) - you now have Netter's Anatomy in the form of Flash Cards for quick reference and revision thanks to Medical Wizards.
"Netter’s Anatomy Flash Cards for PDA is the first product of its kind and contains over 350 high resolution anatomy images, covering all body areas. This is a wonderful tool for both the experienced healthcare provider and student alike."
The software is available for both Palm and PPC but requires something like 25MB storage - which effectively means you have to have a device with an external memory card.

Thanks to bd who pointed it out (in the Feedback section at the left)

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

PubMed On Tap

PubMed On Tap has been updated to version 1.3
PubMed on Tap is an application for PDAs that facilitates Internet access to NLM's MEDLINE database using PubMed ultilies.
New in version 1.3:
- You can save citations to the Memo Pad.
- You can use the drop down menu at the top of the screen to move among the tabs.
Measure pulse rate with your Palm

BeatIt! v0.5 is a unique program which lets you measure pulse or heart rate in beats per minute simply by tapping the Beat It button 2, 4 or 8 times (the last one giving the most accurate reading).
I can imagine it being handy if you want a rough estimate of the pulse rate within 8 beats rather than having to time the pulse for one whole minute (or worse still guesstimating the pulse rate!). It would be handy too if you happen to be wearing a watch without a second hand ;)
Works as advertised and its freeware.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Diabetes 2.0

Diabetes v2.00 ist aktualisiert worden und leider ist sie noch nur auf Deutsch. Ich wundere mich, wann der Autor eine englische Sprachenversion produziert? Sie sieht wie ein großes Programm aus, das mit Diagrammen und sogar einem PC Rohr komplett ist.
RSI Calc for OS5

RSI Calc for OS5 has been released in Handango.

Description:
Easily calculate medication dosages for Rapid Sequence Induction on your Palm OS5 handheld. Simply enter the patient''s weight and the dosages and volumes are calculated for you. No more guessing or calculating each medication individually, with this application you can calculate up to 7 different medications all at once. Registered users have the ability to customize the medications list to suit their local protocols.

Sounds like something very useful for the critical care provider.

Monday, January 26, 2004

Handbook of Cancer Chemotherapy


Handbook of Cancer Chemotherapy is a new release from Skyscape
"The Handbook of Cancer Chemotherapy, Sixth Edition, for PDA is a practical, on-the-spot guide to the use of chemotherapy for specific cancers. Organized by site and tumor type for quick consultation at the bedside, this handheld reference provides instant access to current, reliable recommendations for selection and administration of drugs.
The indispensable Archimedes™ medical calculator is bundled with The Handbook of Cancer Chemotherapy for easy transition between clinical information and calculations."
Patients contacting you

How do you deal with this issue? Do you have a 24 hour secretary? I don't. Where I work, the Office assistant or telephone operator takes the message but its not very reliable. I can't give out my personal mobile number otherwise I'd get no rest either. DictoMail sounds like a great idea. A 24 hour service whereby the caller leaves a voice message which gets converted to text which you can receive on your cellphone, pda or via email. Very unobtrusive and handy I must say. I would subscribe to this service in an instant if it were available 24 hours and has multi-lingual support.

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Not forgetting the Vets

Skyscape's 5-Minute Veterinary Consult—Equine has just been released.


This app "provides concise, practical, up-to-date information on almost all diseases and clinical problems in equine medicine. Emphasis is placed on definition, pathophysiology, diagnosis/treatment of problems, and diseases likely to be encountered by equine practitioners. This PDA reference covers three major areas: Problems & Physical Findings, Diagnostic & Laboratory Findings, and Diseases & Clinical Syndromes. Features include: coverage of more than 500 diseases and conditions; organization by body system; information on clinical pathology and laboratory medicine for each disease; and complex diseases covered in a quick-reference format."

I didn't realise Equine medicine was so complex. Then again, my knowledge of how to treat horses has been influenced by Gary "The Far Side" Larson's infamous cartoon of a Vet's manual on Equine therapeutics - every malady was accompanied by the solution "Shoot the horse" :D



Gong Xi Fa Cai to all those celebrating............



Tuesday, January 20, 2004

Diabetes Converter



Diabetes converter is a free program to help converting values of diabetes measurements :

mg/dL <-> mmol/L
Whole Blood <-> Plasma
HbA1c --> mg/dL, mmol/L
MedMath

Philip Cheng has updated MedMath v2.0

Description:
MedMath is a medical calculator for the Palm, written by a physician for rapid calculation of common formulas in adult internal medicine.
Features more than 30 formulas sorted by category, with selectable units and onscreen numeric keypad.

Runs on all Palm platforms without external libraries.

Update Description:
v2.0 1/4/2004:

Added dosing calculator, PELD (Pediatric Endstage Liver Disease) score, Parkland Formula, Pediatric Maintenance Fluids.
More robust display overflow detection; asterisks shown if numeric overflow.
Answers cleared if invalid inputs and calculate button is pressed. Units independently configurable for height and weight.
Undo/cut/copy/paste supported on calculation screen.
Internal changes to increase efficiency while minimizing footprint.
Minor interface changes for compliance with PalmSource UI guidelines.
High resolution color icon added.
Text added describing age range for Nunn and Gregg peak flow prediction formula (don't use it for children!)
Recompiled using SDK 5.0r3 and pilrc 3.1.
Updated copyright notice.




So which do you prefer? Medcalc or Medmath? I know some who like the latter because of the onscreen numeric entry. I personally prefer Medcalc as it covers more things which are relevant to my practice.

Monday, January 19, 2004

Another TCM software for the Palm



We're seeing not only mainstream medical software but also TCM software coming up for PalmOS! Pocket Homeopath 1.81 has recently been released.

Description:
"It guides you through the aspecs of Homeopathy. All you need to do is simply select your symptoms from six major categories and the application will give you a list of homeopathic remedies that apply. There are other ways to search the program; therapeutic or illness index, first aid and children's illnesses. Intuitive navigation and common language guide you through the many aspects of homeopathy. "

Whether you believe it or not, it might be useful to know what some of your patients might be consuming. It doesn't look like there is an adverse effects section.

Saturday, January 17, 2004

New for nurses and educators

RNotes™ (Nurse's Clinical Pocket Guide) is a new release from Skyscape
"Educators, students, and nurses love this quick and indispensable reference tool. Focusing on clinical "need-to-know" information -- how to calculate common medication formulas, coagulation values, the normal ranges of vital signs -- rather than simply the "nice-to-know", RNotes™ combines commonly used, but rarely memorized, clinical information with patient assessment tools and worksheets. And it does it all in right on your PDA. Students can refer to RNotes time and again for the delivery of safe and efficient nursing care. "

Thursday, January 15, 2004

A program that Kicks Butt!

FreewarePalm: ButtKicks v1.1 is a novel idea for using your Palm PDA.

Description:
Quit Smoking! ButtKicks helps you track your habit, you naturally smoke less until your ready to quit

I guess that's putting your Palm to good use!

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

PDAbs Fitness and Workout Tracker 4.5

Hmm yet another updated fitness program. Something is telling me that I must get in shape Somehow tapping on a PDA does not count as exercise ;)





PDAbs Fitness and
Workout Tracker 4.5
now has a Desktop Component that extends the data collection and viewing capabilities to your desktop. Wirth checking out.

In the meantime, have to keep true to my New Year's resolution to exercise more :D
PatientKeeper scores again

PatientKeeper features in the news again.
Western Maryland Health System Selects Park City Solutions emPOWERnet(TM) as Real-time Enterprise (RTE) Web Platform Leveraging Integration with Existing MEDITECH Systems - this system allows "real-time enterprise (RTE) portal solutions for 24/7 access to patient data and medical resources from any secured internet connection."

"The emPOWERnet:Mobile(TM) solution, powered by PatientKeeper(r) of Boston, Massachusetts, will also enable physicians to easily access patient demographic and clinical result information, view patient lists, and perform pre-rounding all through one handheld Palm OS or Pocket PC wireless device (PDA). "

PalmOS application helps PDA users lose weight and get in shape

PRESS RELEASE (eMediaWire) NormSoft Announces Athletix Health and Fitness Software:

Millis, MA (PRWEB) January 12, 2004 -- NormSoft, Inc. today announced the debut of Athletix, a powerful health and fitness log for PalmOS devices. PDA users can download a free fully-functional trial version from www.normsoft.com

The key feature of Athletix is its ability to create and manage entries in its flexible exercise log. Each log entry can contain dozens of pieces of information, about exercise (distance, time, speed/pace, subjective quality, weather, race placing, etc.) and health (weight, resting heart rate, blood pressure, etc.). Users can view their log entries in an easy-to-read columnar form that is completely customizable. They can change which information is displayed to them so they can hide the details they don't wish to track.

Monday, January 05, 2004

Calorie Factor


FreewarePalm: Calorie Factor (TM) is billed as a "dietary calculator used to calculate a score of points.
Features: Calculates a factor based on calories, fiber, and fat content in foods".

Hmm I wonder what score this is? There was this "legendary" WWCalc an app Weight Watchers tried to kill and I wonder if this is something similar?

Testing blogging using Vagablog by http://www.bitsplitter.net. Seems like a great way to update your blog wirelessly without requiring a PC.

Saturday, January 03, 2004

Contraction Timer


Contraction Timer has been updated to version v2.12.3. This is a freeware application which allows you to "Use the big buttons to keep a log of contractions, while Contraction Timer automatically calculates the most important information for your midwife or doctor: the frequency of the contractions and their duration. No stylus required! It's better than a stopwatch."

Update Description:
v2.12.3 (11/9/03):
- Implemented CSV export.
- Added GPL notices, released as Free Software.

Friday, January 02, 2004

Shots 2004 update




Shots 2004, the excellent freeware immunization recommendation PalmOS software by Kent "Ectopic Brain" Willyard has been updated with the new January-June, 2004 child and 2004 adult immunization recommendations, and now includes Smallpox information. Apparently, Pocket PC and Online versions will be available. Hmm I wonder where Kent keeps his brain.
Cancer Staging and Treatment v2.7




Johnson Chong has updated his excellent and free Cancer Staging and Treatment v2.7 which is an iSilo compilation of useful information/PDQs obtained from Cancernet.
The compilation now supports iSilo 3 - you need the full registered version in order to use this document.
Highly recommended for all oncologists and health care personnel in the oncology field.

Thursday, January 01, 2004

Specialist Registrar in Cardiology Now Carries a Brain in His Back Pocket (He's Irish ;) )

Skyscape's Your Voice features a user's experience with his Palm - "Since discovering Skyscape products my palm is now referred to as the brain in my back pocket". OK this is a happy experience but folks, I would advise you to keep your brain out of your butt!! I have a surgeon colleague who keeps ruining his Sony Clies by keeping them in his back pocket. I think the PDA receives more physical stress this way. I keep mine in my front pocket. So where do you keep your brain?

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

5 Minute Emergency Consult 2nd Edition

Skyscape's 5MEC 2nd Edition has been released.

"The thoroughly updated Second Edition of this best-selling PDA reference is a must-have for emergency departments, emergency medicine practitioners, and students beginning rotations in the emergency medicine setting. Covering over 600 clinical problems and containing the full text of the Second Edition, this quick-reference guide gives clinicians immediate information that is accurate, current, practical, pointed, and thoroughly complete. The well-organized coverage of each disorder includes clinical presentation, prehospital, diagnosis, treatment, disposition, and ICD-9/10 coding. New topics in this edition include heart murmur, cough, thrombolytic protocols, reperfusion therapy, hearing loss, and serum sickness. "