GPS

Nothing to do with General Practice and not really medically related (golf aside!) but I did get myself a new toy recently - an Ambicom Bluetooth GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver

My Tungsten T3 connects with it flawlessly.

I use Mapopolis quite a fair bit to guide me when I travel around the city and find it useful when I wish to look up various places. Now with the GPS unit, I can quickly centre my location on the Mapopolis map. This is a view of the hospital where I work :


Location: N3º 4.7 E101º 35.6

What else can you do with a GPS? I don't play golf but so many doctors do that golf is almost synonomous with the medical profession ;)
Now with iGolfgps you have another tool to help you lower your handicap

iGolfgps is a “Must Have” for any golfer serious about lowering their score. Using a GPS receiver and a Palm or Pocket PC, iGolfgps provides golfers with distance measurements to the front, center and back of a green, assisting in the appropriate club selection for the remaining distance. Also included is the option to select up to four customizable locations, such as water hazards and sand traps. Another feature is the scorecard for up to four golfers.

Of course if you are into sailing, fishing, hiking, jungle trekking then the GPS should come in very handy. There is a freeware Palm navigation and positioning software called Cetus GPS which works well with Bluetooth GPS units.
And lastly if you are really bored, there are 16,000 other things you can do with a GPS....

Have a good weekend!

Posted 5:33 AM by Palmdoc | |

Jim's T5

Jim Thompson, he of Peripheral Brain fame and a long time Palm user, has got himself a T5 and you can read his T5 review which I found interesting.

Posted 11:21 AM by Palmdoc | |

McGraw-Hill and Unbound Medicine

McGraw-Hill and Unbound Medicine have announce five new titles:
CURRENT CONSULT Medicine 2005, CURRENT CONSULT Surgery, Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests, and Essentials of Diagnosis and Treatment in Cardiology.
In addition, a new component to the popular Diagnosaurus program — Diagnosaurus Surgery — was made available free of charge at Diagnosaurus.com. All products deliver current, need-to-know content from McGraw-Hill on Unbound Medicine’s award-winning mobile platform.
That aside, I think the Diagnosaur is cute too :)

Posted 5:06 AM by Palmdoc | |

C-tools beta test final call

Finally I got the C-tools beta test notice in my email.

We are pleased to release the C-Tools 2.0 Beta for the Palm! Please note this version works only on Palm-based systems, and not on PocketPC systems. The PocketPC version is being finalized now, and we hope to release it in the near future.. If you applied to be a Beta Tester and have not gotten the email containing the link please contact us asap. Otherwise all feedback is due at the end of November.

You can stay updated with all the latest C-Tools news by subscribing to their RSS feed
The last day for enrolment for the beta test program is October 28. They are still looking for more Palm users. What are you waiting for?

Posted 4:47 AM by Palmdoc | |

Care Giver 1.0

Are you a Care Giver? If you don't want to use a generic database applet, then you might be interested in Care Giver 1.0

Keep track of essential data for individuals whose long term care you are responsible for. Including basic health, prescription information and more

Posted 11:03 AM by Palmdoc | |

emOPH and HlthAssess

emOPH has been released which is the Skyscape version of eMedicine Ophthalmology.
Description:

This is a completely current reference volume consisting of 357 comprehensive, but concise, disease-specific review articles. Each article undergoes 4 levels of physician peer-review and follows a consistent format. This volume, authored and edited by 360 contributing physicians, is designed for use by practicing physicians, academicians and residents to provide rapid answers to clinical questions. This new version combines eMedicine's patented collaborative authoring technology with Skyscape's intelligent mobile solution to create the ultimate handheld reference in this specialty.

HlthAssess is the Skyscape version of Nurses' Handbook of Health Assessment, 5th Ed
Description:

The PDA version of Weber’s Handbook gives nurses instant access to all the assessment information they need. Using an easy to understand format that includes assessment technique, normal findings, and abnormal findings, this resource is geared specifically toward what the nurse needs to know to assess clients, including nursing interventions

Posted 10:58 AM by Palmdoc | |

emNeuro

Skyscape has released emNeuro™ (eMedicine Neurology) 7.0.1

This is a completely current reference volume consisting of 390 comprehensive, but concise, disease-specific review articles. Each article undergoes 4 levels of physician peer-review and follows a consistent format. This volume, authored and edited by 364 contributing physicians, is designed for use by practicing physicians, academicians and residents to provide rapid answers to clinical questions. This new version combines eMedicine's patented collaborative authoring technology with Skyscape's intelligent mobile solution to create the ultimate handheld reference in this specialty.

Posted 7:27 AM by Palmdoc | |

Why I won't be getting a smartphone

palmOne has announced the Treo650 and it looks like a fine smartphone. The interesting feature to me is the inclusion of Edge which gives one near broadband Internet access in a mobile device. This might tempt some especially there are providers with an "all you can eat" plan with GPRS/Edge access.
However, the main problems for me with a smartphone are:
1) The screen is still too small. The screen resolution may have improved on the Treo650 to 320x320 but it's still too tiny for me. Then again I am spoiled by the T3's 320x480 screen which is awesome expecially when you are reading documents or webpages in Landscape mode. Perhaps if they come up with a smartphone with a larger screen This might be possible if they do away with the silly keypad. Just keep a few essentail buttons - call, answer etc.
2) No wifi. Looks like the Treo650 will not support Wifi. Pity. Their close competitor is the iPaq 6350 which has Wifi + BT. At least now with the SD Wifi card, I have this option which I think is important with the number of hotspots increasing everyday. There are more and more Internet ready apps for the Palm including medical ones such as PubMed on Tap
3) The most important reason for me is I still prefer to carry two devices. If the smartphone were to be spoilt/damaged/lost then you lose everything. If my phone were to give trouble I simply get a replacement which costs far less than a smartphone.

So please palmOne. Not everyone is peachy keen on convergence devices. Let's hope they keep rolling out PDAs and where's that elusive dual wireless PDA?

Posted 6:44 AM by Palmdoc | |

C-Tools beta out?

Leo of medPDA.net reports that C-Tools beta is out. Thanks for the heads-up Leo but I can't find the link :( Perhaps it is a closed beta?

Posted 7:04 AM by Palmdoc | |

palmOne Webinars: MercuryMD

Did you attend the last palmOne Webinar (WebSeminar) on the T5? I confess I could not wake up in time but then again it was 1am my time!
Now palmOne and MercuryMD invites you to participate in Webinars featuring The Nebraska Medical Center of Omaha, Nebraska and Riverside Health System of Newport News, Virginia.

On November 2nd at 2:00 PM EST, join Tom Tape, M.D., Chief, General Internal Medicine at The Nebraska Medical Center, as he presents "Improving Clinical Decision Making Through Better Data Access." This 30-minute Webinar will discuss The Nebraska Medical Center clinical workflow challenges and how the organization achieved a competitive advantage with its mobility initiative. Participants will learn what factors to consider when initiating a mobile initiative, such as implementation processes, necessary resources, and how to drive user-adoption and staff buy-in.

On November 10th at 2:00 PM EST, join John Stanley - VP/CIO at Riverside Health System, and Sharon Chenault, IT Project Manager at Riverside Health System, as they discuss the challenges faced by their organization in a competitive marketplace and how they continue to invest in technology to strengthen relationships with their medical staff. In this 30-minute Webinar presentation, "Making it Easier to Practice Medicine" John and Sharon will discuss lessons-learned and how Riverside Health continues to drive value for its medical staff.

Register here

Posted 11:48 PM by Palmdoc | |

ClinSkills

Skyscape has released ClinSkills™ (Taylor's Clinical Nursing Skills) on Palmgear.

This PDA reference provides instant guidance for performing over 165 skills. Each skill includes equipment lists, assessment parameters, and nursing actions with rationales. Special considerations for pediatric and geriatric clients allow the user to adapt each skill to meet the client's needs. Unexpected outcomes and associated interventions are included, to prepare the user to react appropriately. This product provides instant access to the know-how needed to provide and safe and effective nursing care.

Posted 6:55 AM by Palmdoc | |

Screenshot: Haemconcrules 1.6

Up coming version of Haemoncrules v1.6 This will incorporate a "Probability of Mortality model for cancer patients admitted to ICU" Groeger et. al. JCO 1998 761-770. This one is for Rob Rowles who made the request via postcard. Coming to you in Palmgear after testing and debugging! 

Posted 10:46 AM by Palmdoc | |

emMed

Another in Skyscape's em series, emMed 7.01 is eMedicine Internal Medicine & Primary Care

This is a completely current reference volume consisting of 1,093 comprehensive, but concise, disease-specific review articles. Each article undergoes 4 levels of physician peer-review and follows a consistent format. This volume, authored and edited by over 1,500 contributing physicians, is designed for use by practicing physicians, academicians and residents to provide rapid answers to clinical questions. This new version combines eMedicine's patented collaborative authoring technology with Skyscape's intelligent mobile solution to create the ultimate handheld reference in these areas.

Posted 6:01 AM by Palmdoc | |

STAT GrowthCharts

Statcoder has updated STAT GrowthCharts to version 2.5
This freebie allows you to look up the CDC pediatric values for "percentile rank for Weight-for-Age, Height-for-Age, Weight-for-Height, and the new BMI-for-Age obesity indicator". It includes automatic calculation of blood pressure tables from the recently-published guidelines.
I think this is a must have for every Primary care doctor and Pediatrician as well as interested Moms and Dads.....

Posted 8:43 PM by Palmdoc | |

GIDiseases

Skyscape has released GIDiseases aka Gastrointestinal & Liver Disease on Palmgear.

This concise text is a practical resource for clinicians. It provides reviews of all the major topics in gastrointestinal and liver disease and cites more than two thousand of the most important references in the field. The first section describes the approach to common complaints with links to the detailed discussion of each disease. In this way the clinician is guided from discussion of a complaint (e.g. abdominal pain) to a specific diagnosis (e.g. biliary colic). The disease are described under the headings of Cause, Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Symptoms, Signs, Course, Complications, Differential Diagnosis, Laboratory tests, Imaging studies, Endoscopy and Treatment. Cross references with direct links are extensively used. The text will be of great value not only to practicing clinicians but also to medical students and residents on gastroenterology or medicine rotations. It should not be difficult to read the entire volume over the course of a typical clerkship. Gastroenterology fellows will find it helpful as a quick reference and as a means of reviewing for Board Certification examinations.

Posted 7:25 AM by Palmdoc | |

CME Watch

Now there's a freebie, CME Watch v0.4, to help you keep tgrack of your CME activities!

Description: Introducing CME Watch - Track your CME Hours Easily on your Palm. No more worrying about whether you've accumulated enough hours. Use the summary function to add up all the CME hours! Useful for : Physicians, Nurses, Respiratory Therapists....anyone who needs to attend and keep track of Continuing Medical Education Time! Featuring: - Automatically Adds and Summarizes Total CME Hours - Ability to also track days for CME Allowance.

Posted 5:32 AM by Palmdoc | |

Haemoncrules updated

Haemoncrules has been updated to version 1.5 in Palmgear.
The two new modules are the FLIPI index for follicular lymphoma (see screenshot below) and a Warfarin dosing program (after Ryan).
There are now 25 modules in total. If you have any suggestions for new modules please email me and let me know. Haemoncrules remains freeware. Will there be a PocketPC version? Response to my previous poll was rather dismal so the answer is not in the near future...

Posted 8:43 PM by Palmdoc | |

Screenshot: Haemoncrules 1.5

Haemoncrules 1.5 is almost ready. By popular request, I have included FLIPI - the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (Blood 2004). Look out for it in Palmgear in a while. Users who have emailed me or sent me a postcard will be notified by email when it is ready for download.  

Posted 2:35 PM by Palmdoc | |

Oncalls: PDA sync

Spotted in Family Medicine Notes: OnCalls is a web based group practice call scheduling system. You can try out the demo by logging in with "demo" as the username and password. What is cool is that this system has a PDA sync system. I haven't tried it out yet but it suonds like it might be a handy solution for some group practices.

Posted 10:24 AM by Palmdoc | |

emSports

Skyscape has released on Palmgear another in their series in conjunction eith eMedicine: emSportswhich is their version of eMedicine Sports Medicine

Description:

This is a completely current reference volume consisting of 115 comprehensive, but concise, disease-specific review articles. Each article undergoes 4 levels of physician peer-review and follows a consistent format. This volume, authored and edited by 162 contributing physicians, is designed for use by practicing physicians, academicians and residents to provide rapid answers to clinical questions. This new version combines eMedicine's patented collaborative authoring technology with Skyscape's intelligent mobile solution to create the ultimate handheld reference in this specialty.

Posted 10:06 AM by Palmdoc | |

emENT

emENT has been released by Skyscape on Palmgear. emENT™ is the PDA version of eMedicine Otolaryngology & Facial Plastic Surgery

This is a completely current reference volume consisting of 404 comprehensive, but concise, disease-specific review articles. Each article undergoes 4 levels of physician peer-review and follows a consistent format. This volume, authored and edited by 446 contributing physicians, is designed for use by practicing physicians, academicians and residents to provide rapid answers to clinical questions. This new version combines eMedicine's patented collaborative authoring technology with Skyscape's intelligent mobile solution to create the ultimate handheld reference in this specialty.

Posted 6:39 AM by Palmdoc | |

Found in translation

MobileHealthData reports:

Waltham, Mass.-based CRF Inc., which offers PDA-based clinical trial software for patients and investigators, has contracted with SimulTrans to translate its software into other languages and provide support services to its international clients. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. SimulTrans, based in Dublin, Ireland, already has done some translating for CRF, which has worked with research companies in 42 countries. CRF's wireless system enables clinical trial participants to keep an "e-diary" of their activities and log clinical information. Investigators and study coordinators also use PDAs to collect and edit patient data. For more information, visit www.crfhealth.com.

I suppose such trials would be successful only if PDAs were ubiquitous amongst the trial participants. Since PDA prices have dropped so much perhaps it would be a great incentive to recruit trial participants if one were to offer free PDAs!

Posted 5:08 AM by Palmdoc | |

OnTimeRx

OnTimeRx has been updated to version 2.4

Award-winning OnTimeRx® is a valuable healthcare tool developed by a pharmacist. *For people or for pets*, it works equally well on Treo 600s or basic Palm PDAs. Features pill reminder alarms for each drug dose and displays remaining Days Supply on each alarm screen. Schedule all To Do events, doctor appointments, and other healthcare activities in On Time Rx. With editable dropdowns and help TIPS throughout, OnTimeRx® is easy to customize for specific patient needs. It can also be localized for many other languages with International symbols.

Updates in v2.4 include:
Hi-Res Logo added - plus minor internal upgrades to
accommodate the latest devices from palmOne.
NEW Enhancements include:
* Lockout PIN# in Preferences for security
* Plain Icon in Preferences for privacy
* Alarm Mute - temporarily silence audible OTRx alarms for 1 to 3hrs
* Treo 600-Optimized to utilize 5-way nav and KeyGuard options.
* Doctor dropdown list
* Phone dropdown list
* Beamable Log Data - facilitates use in research*

I personally use OnTimeRx and I can vouch for its usefulness. In fact I have beamed the application over to patients who own PalmOS devices. It's great if your patient can objectively tell you his compliance rate which OnTimeRx generates with it's log :



Don't have a Palm? palmOne has a Special Offer: Medication Reminder Solution which bundles OnTimeRx with a Tungsten E (a great value PDA) or Zire31.

Posted 4:52 AM by Palmdoc | |

Blogroll update

Time to refresh the Palm Blogroll. Sammy has moved Palmaddicts to typepad so I have edited the link. It's a great site with updates like every hour or so! If you need your hourly Palm news fix, you know where to go :)
Added ERdoc, the "the chronicles of an emergency room doc and his palm handheld".
Anyone else not in the blogroll please let me know! Thanks.....

Posted 7:04 AM by Palmdoc | |

MedScore NS

MedScore NS 1.0 has been released by Emergency-nurse.org on Palmgear.com

This program contains calculators for over 20 vital medical and nursing scoring systems. It includes, among others, the following scores: Apgar, Ottowa Rules, Body Mass Index, Peak Flow, Waterlow, Trauma and Revised Trauma scores, and the TWEAK Alcohol score. Also included are drip and drop rate calculators, and the Parkland Burns formula. Full help system, including full Harvard referencing is included.

I notice Emergency-nurse.org also has a number of other software products for PDAs (webmaster please take note your product description cannot be displayed with Firefox but can be viewed with IE)

Posted 4:44 AM by Palmdoc | |

ePocrates 7.0 updates

ePocarates 7.0 has been released. The folks at ePocrates are constantly improving and adding new things to their excellent product. From their October Clinical updates:

Completion of Dermatology Additions Last month, we alerted you that our editors in Medical Information were working on making the coverage of dermatology monographs in ePocrates Rx more comprehensive. At the conclusion of this 3-month project, over 110 dermatology or topical products were added to the database, and many monographs were revised. Drug-Drug Interaction Categorization An important enhancement to ePocrates Rx version 7.0 is the drug interaction categorization feature. When viewing the drug interaction list for a drug in ePocrates Rx, or when viewing MultiCheck results, drug-drug interactions and drug-alt med interactions are now categorized under 5 bold headers: * Contraindicated * Avoid/Use Alternative * Monitor/Modify Tx * Therapeutic Advantage * Caution Advised

and more....

Posted 6:04 AM by Palmdoc | |

Peak flow

Spotted in PDA247:

Peak Flow 1.0 This program is ideal for nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists or anyone involved with Peak Flow measurement. Using height and age parameters, this calculator enables the quick, easy prediction of normal peak flow scores. It includes a fully featured database for storing scores. No extra files are required to run this product, but if you already have the NSB Runtime, you can download Peak Flow NS which is only 20k.

Not bad but it costs $7.50. Sorry to be a wet blanket but I do notice that Peak Flow prediction is available in the free Medcalc. Just a reminder - you can also save patient values in Medcalc and in effect it has a built-in tracking system for storing readings. Medcalc has also tons of other medical formulae.
Peak flow 1.0 would be better if it had a built-in charting module.

Posted 5:31 AM by Palmdoc | |

Press release: Mobile Partnership

Got this Press release in the mail:

Script IQ and IQMax's PDA-based Solutions Extend Formulary Management, Prescribing and Doctor-Connectivity Solutions to the Examination Room and Beyond SEATTLE, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- ScriptIQ and IQMax announced the signing of a strategic partnership to bring Script IQ's healthcare solutions to IQMax's mobile platform. Deployed at more than 6,000 users, Script IQ's solutions have helped medical groups evolve from paper-based systems in the key areas of formulary management, prescription ordering and physician connectivity, and the IQMax platform now extends that evolution to personal, handheld devices..... ..... IQMax has designed mobile platforms and solutions to arm healthcare users with reliable, robust and easily-adoptable applications that improve productivity and reduce costs without changing the fundamental practice of medicine. IQSpeak® (dictation) and IQCharge(TM) (charge capture) provide high value and "best in class" performance in either a wired or wireless environment. The addition of the highly successful Script IQ "Medication Management" and connectivity solutions are a natural addition to IQMax's Palm OS or Pocket PC-based solutions, helping medical groups comply with HIPAA security guidelines, including point-to-point encryption.

Posted 7:19 PM by Palmdoc | |

Medical Schools and PDAs

I don't sell off my PDAs - they become "hand-me-downs". I passed my IIIx to my nurse coordinator. My TT went to Mrs Palmdoc and my m515 went to my niece who is in Med school. My niece now finds the m515 insufficient for her needs and the battery is not that great anymore - she's now looking at a T|E as a replacement. Too bad the T5 is not worthy of an upgrade for me as a T3 user otherwise it would be another round of "hand-me-downs"! Many of my niece's classmates are getting PDAs too but her medical school has not officially embraced PDAs in their curriculum. Kind of behind the times I thought. Especially when you read of reports like Penn. Equips Students With Essentials

The University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine, Philadelphia, will distribute a new suite of PDA reference tools from San Mateo, Calif.-based ePocrates Inc. to all students on clinical rotations. Released this summer, the ePocrates Essentials package includes drug reference and dosing tools, disease treatment applications, and a laboratory test reference guide. The school also has subscribed to ePocrates Rx Online, a Web-based resource that students and faculty members can access to research up-to-date information on medications, diseases and other clinical topics.

Posted 5:22 AM by Palmdoc | |

MD Visit

MD Visit 5.0 has been released as freeware

MD Visit™ is a Palm OS™ based application designed by physicians for physicians to support coding and compliance at the point-of-care. Capturing patient charges at the point of care not only improves revenue and cash flow it also improves billing accuracy thereby minimizing fraud and abuse potential. MD Visit incorporates over 7 years of improvements and enhancements reflecting our users’ needs and suggestions. In the palm of your hand you can easily create and manage patient lists and accurate charges for each encounter making MD Visit a valuable tool for all physicians.

Posted 12:14 PM by Palmdoc | |

Essentials of Diagnosis & Treatment in Cardiology

Unbound Medicine has released Essentials of Diagnosis & Treatment in Cardiology v2.2

Essentials of Diagnosis & Treatment in Cardiology includes essential information needed to diagnose and manage patients with cardiac diseases. It summarizes the diagnosis and treatment of 200 cardiac diseases, each reviewed with discussion of the only the most pertinent information including: differential diagnosis, treatment, and a clinical pearl. A must for medical students, residents, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, and general and family practitioners.

Posted 5:15 AM by Palmdoc | |

T5 Webinar

Well, palmOne is trying to target the Healthcare market.
I received an email from palmOne informing that there will be a Webinar (a "Web seminar") on the new T5 in Healthcare, held on October 20, 2004 (10am-11am PDT). All attendees stand a chance to win a T5! Register for this event here.
Visit the palmOne Healthcare solutions site

Posted 4:29 AM by Palmdoc | |

Another Survey says.....

There's been yet another Skyscape survey of more than 1,600 medical professionals who use handheld computers conducted in August 2004. Survey respondents were
cardiologists, pediatricians, nurses or internal medicine practitioners.

From TMC.net

Respondents to the Skyscape survey stated that PDA use provides significant benefits. It improves the overall quality of patient care, by providing them the needed information to make informed decisions and reduce medical errors. Specific results include: -- Reducing Medical Errors: Internists and Pediatricians Impacted Most--Although more than 50 percent of medical professionals reported that using PDAs reduced medical errors by more than 4 percent, the most impressive reduction in medical errors were with internists and pediatricians. More than 41 percent of internists reported that using a PDA reduces medical errors by more than six percent, with 24 percent reporting a decrease of more than 10 percent. For pediatricians, more than 27 percent reported reductions of six percent or greater. -- Medical Professionals Rely on Multiple References--Medical professionals do not just rely on one reference for their PDA. More than 78 percent of survey respondents have at least three medical references on their PDA--an increase of 8 percent since December 2003. Forty-six percent of internists have five or more references and 10 percent indicated they have 10 or more references on their PDA. -- Cardiologists Use PDAs More Frequently--More than 61 percent of medical professionals use their PDAs at least six times a day. Thirteen percent of internists use their PDA 25 times or more a day. -- Drug References In High Demand--When asked how they use their PDAs, on average 88 percent of respondents indicated that they use it to check drug references. Thirty-eight percent of respondents indicated that they also use it for drug interaction checks, with cardiologists and internists the most likely to use it for that purpose. -- Peds and Clinical References Popular-- More than 75 percent of pediatricians use their PDAs for accessing clinical references, a figure more than 10 percent higher than cardiologists and nurses. -- PDAs Provide Improved Efficiency--Almost 92 percent of the doctors concluded that PDAs help them improve their efficiency.

How many medical references do you carry on your PDA?

Posted 10:12 PM by Palmdoc | |

PracticalTEE

PracticalTEE has nothing to do with golf but is actually the Skyscape version of A Practical Approach to Transesophageal Echocardiography

A Practical Approach to TEE on PDA puts detailed "how-to" information on transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) at the clinician’s fingertips in the operating room, intensive care unit, office, or any other clinical setting. Easy-to-navigate modules developed with the most advanced PDA technology provide one-click access to information on all clinically relevant topics, from physics, normal TEE examination sequence, and "knobology," through Doppler applications, congenital heart disease, and assessment of various valve pathologies. Each module includes numerous TEE echocardiographic images, labeled art, formulas, and detailed guidelines on image acquisition and interpretation.

Posted 7:07 AM by Palmdoc | |

MGHAnes

Skyscape has released MGHAnes™ which is the Skyscape version of Clinical Anesthesia Procedures of the Massachusetts General Hospital, 6th Ed.

The best-selling handbook, Clinical Anesthesia Procedures of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Sixth Edition, is now available in PDA format. This easy-to-navigate handheld reference provides instant access to current, comprehensive, concise, consistent, and clinically relevant guidelines for anesthesia procedures throughout the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative periods. Coverage includes a comprehensive, alphabetical drug appendix, adult and pediatric resuscitation guidelines, malignant hyperthermia protocols, an anesthesia machine checklist, and information on complementary and alternative medicine and end-of-life issues

Posted 6:32 AM by Palmdoc | |

T5 for the Healthcare profession

Ectopic Brain is pondering whether or not the Tungsten T5, palmOne's new baby, should be his next upgrade, finally retiring his m515.
Well I think the T5 is a fine PDA and the most interesting feature is this is the first PDA to have non-volatile Ram, meaning your data will not get lost even if your batteries run flat. Its also much larger - 256MB flashRam, over 200MB of which will be available to the user.
So is palmOne targetting the Healthcare professional with the T5? Investors.com has an article which makes one think so.

"With the Tungsten T5's flash memory, we can now offer healthcare professionals a handheld that preserves the patient and reference information, even if the device loses its charge," said Mike Lorion, vice president of business and vertical sales and marketing for palmOne. "The Tungsten T5 offers a powerful Intel processor and gives clinicians more storage capacity to hold the wide range of healthcare applications available that support them in their delivery of service at the point-of-care. It also has a large, brilliant screen that makes it easy to view and modify documents on the device."

In what I think is a faux pas, palmOne has omitted a voice recorder for the T5. I think some doctors would be upset - I personally find that having voice recording function in my PDA comes in handy at times when it is more convenient to take a Voice memo rather than a written one.
The omission of Wifi is no big deal since one can use palmOne's SD Wifi card (provided they also release the drivers for it). The T5's battery is better using a 1300mA battery compared with the T3's 900mA so it looks like this device will overcome one of the T3's weaknesses - a short battery life.
So if Ectopic Brain can live without the voice recorder, I say go for the T5. It sounds like a superb upgrade from the m515. Works with the Mac too! Otherwise, the T3 will be going for $50 less and will be a better value buy.



Further reading
Palminfocenter's T5 announcement
BrightHand's T5 article

Posted 7:59 PM by Palmdoc | |

Run and search

The LibraryJournal has an article entitled Searching on the Run which touches on using handheld devices to look up medical information.

Doctors are early adopters of PDAs, with an estimated 35–50 percent of physicians (and 80 percent of U.S. medical students) currently using them. These users are most likely to be male, in an urban community, and in training or a recent medical school graduate. They are less concerned about small screen size than memory limitations. The most common uses are for drug reference, personal scheduling, and medical calculations. I recently surveyed members of the American Academy of Pediatrics and found that about half of the respondents use a PDA—mostly for personal use. Hardly any use their PDA to download articles, but over a quarter of respondents indicated they would "definitely or probably" use a PDA in the future to search and access articles. PDAs are particularly suited to fact checking in structured information sources, such as drug or disease handbooks.

There is mention of LexisNexis for Blackberry users, as well as "Ovid, Elsevier, and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) are all targeting the medical end user on the run".
I personally find the PubMed on Tap very useful especially now that my T3 has Wifi.
So do you search and run as well? :)

Posted 9:58 AM by Palmdoc | |