Palmsource Expert Guide for Medical Students

Matt "Doc Panama" Delaney has written an excellent piece for Palmsource which serves as an Expert Guide for Students of Medicine and the Health Sciences.
There are tons of links, including quite a few that I was not aware of, so if you are a medical student, head over there now and take a look!

Thanks to Ectopic Brain for the heads-up on this link. Kent "Ectopic Brain" Willyard himself has written an Expert Guide for Doctors in Palmsource.

I think these Expert Guides are great. Things do change and there will be new software as well so I wonder if the Expert Guides will be updated from time to time? I certainly hope so!

HealthRamp and palmOne to Host Electronic Prescribing Solutions Webinar

What is a webinar?

"Webinars are web-based seminars. By using a telephone and the internet, a broad audience of attendees can participate in a seminar without having to leave their desks.
Webinars are as effective as on-site presentations without the travel expense."

From Palmloyal

HealthRamp and palmOne to Host Electronic Prescribing Solutions Webinar on June 9, 2004. The webinar probes how physicians and pharmacies save money and time, along with other benefits that ePrescribing offers. Learn about HealthRamp CarePoint's approach to addressing safety and cost issues in a medical practice. Find out what clinical tools HealthRamp CarePoint equips the medical professional with to increase practice efficiency and elevate the level of patient safety at the point of care. Webinar to Address Latest Advances in Point-of-Care Technology WHAT: palmOne and HealthRamp to present a webinar focused on emerging technologies for point-of-care automation. WHO: Marty Provo, Sales Manager for Healthcare for palmOne, and Louis Hyman, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President, Operations for HealthRamp, Inc., will provide a demonstration of the CarePoint electronic prescribing solution on palmOne devices and offer insights into key implementation considerations WHEN: June 9, 2004, 2:00 PM EDT * HealthRamp will also summarize results from its recent survey of the electronic prescribing market. * Please use the following URL to attend: http://registration.intercall.com/go/palmone * For audio, dial 800-811-2508 (domestic) or 706-634-6084 (international) For more information on the palmOne and HealthRamp webinar and healthcare solutions from palmOne, please visit http://www.kohati.com/palmone/eprescribing.

AnesRev

Skyscape has released AnesRev (Review of Clinical Anesthesia, Third Edition)

The popular, widely used Review of Clinical Anesthesia, Third Edition is now available in PDA format for quick, easy access anytime and anywhere. This is the first comprehensive anesthesia review for PDAs and is the perfect study aid for written and oral board exams. Derived from Barash, Cullen and Stoelting's Clinical Anesthesia, Fourth Edition, this PDA review contains board-format questions with detailed answers. The software presents the questions and answers in a flash-card format that is ideal for exam preparation.

Screenshot


I still use the Memopad alot for quick notes and as an aide memoire. The Palm is very handy as a revision tool if you are learning a language - something all medical practitioners have to face up with if you want to comunicate with patients effectively. Make good use of categories and you can't go wrong. Here's a screenshot of a T3 displaying Chinese characters as it is running CJKOS, a popular add-on for displaying Chinese font. A good Chinese dictionary would be Yinghan which comes with speech output.  

Cardiomath

Cardiomath v1.01 has been released - freeware and chock-a-block with useful formulae for the practicing cardiologist.

Description: CardioMath is a PalmOS calculator with over 50 commonly used formulas in cardiovascular medicine. It covers the following areas including echocardiography, EKG, epidemiology, exercise stress testing, hemodynamics, and unit conversion (between SI & US). Each formula is accompanied by references and normal values.

Screenshot




Another screenshot from my Palm. Do you like to use Agendus icons? I think they are a terrific boon when you want to glance at the entire month and see what's up. Pretty colorful isn't it? I haven't seen any good iconset which is geared for medical professional use. At least now Agendus supports different icon sets so you can pick and choose or even design your own.  

Another tool for nurses

Not forgetting Nurses Toolbox which looks like an excellent set of utilities for the busy nurse.

Nurses ToolBox is a combination of 12 sections (modules) from the Award Winning products ER&ICU ToolBox and PediSuite. It enables the user to perform instant weight-based calculations for drug dosages, critical care drips, emergency drugs, fluids, and more for both Pediatric and Adult patients. Additionally, this program adds relevant information such as mixing, infusing and compatibility guides. There have been substantial updates and upgrades throughout all modules in version 5.0, but most significantly, the product now has a full A-Z index, allowing users to access content quickly by using the easy search tool.

Patientkeeper keeps rolling along...

Mobilehealthdata reports:

June 1, 2004 - Boston-based PatientKeeper Inc. signed several new contracts for its mobile software during the first five months of 2004. Provider organizations that have recently signed with the vendor include: Adventist Health System, Berkshire Health System, Halifax Fish Community Health Systems, Sinai Medical Group Chicago and the University of Kansas Hospital, Kansas City. PatientKeeper offers clinical mobile applications, including charge capture and dictation. Its mobile software platform is designed to integrate a health care organization's existing clinical applications and enable access via PDAs over a wireless local area network. The software can be used on PDAs running the Palm OS or Windows Mobile operating system. For more information, go to www.patientkeeper.com.

Nurses helper

There are plenty of patient trackers out there for doctors but not many for other health care professionals. So it's a breath of fresh air to see Nurses helper released. I personally think something which integrates with the HIS would be better than a standalone application but still, I am sure there are some Palm toting nurses who might find this one useful.

Application Description: Nurses Helper© is a Palm OS" application designed to be used by Nurses to record day to day information about their patients or clients, thus decreasing those trips to the Nursing station and paper hunting expeditions. Nurses Helper© can reduce the frustration experienced when the Doctors steal client notes and dont return them! Nurses Helper programmed by a Registered Nurse. We have tried to incorporate those day to day tasks that most Nurses would reasonably expect to do in a shift. Nurses Helper can save you time and energy by organising your patient information. Suits most Palm OS PDA's.

Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests

Unbound Medicine has just released Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests

Application Description: Pocket Guide to Diagnostics Tests, 4/e for PDA provides quick, evidence-based information on the selection and interpretation of common diagnostic tests. Covering more than 350 laboratory, imaging, and microbiology tests, this handy reference is ideal for answering common questions such as: * Which test is best to diagnose, screen, or follow a certain condition? * How do I interpret an abnormal diagnostic test? * How do I collect the appropriate specimen or prepare the patient for testing? * Where can I find more information on this test in the medical literature?

Looks interesting. Skyscape has a similar product ABCLabData and it would be interesting to compare this head to head.

AMIA to Offer Members Mobile Medical Databases

The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), a provider of healthcare information management, research, development, and education, is working with Thomson MICROMEDEX to offer its members mobileMICROMEDEX, a mobile resource that provides drug, alternative medicine, toxicology and acute care information too Palm OS and Pocket PC PDAs or smartphones. According to MICROMEDEX, the medical information in mobileMICROMEDEX is derived from the company's Healthcare Series databases and is downloadable to a clinicians' handheld. Also included is a drug interaction tool to help users check a patient's profile of medications (up to 32 at once) for potentially harmful interactions. Doctors can access information beyond basic interaction alerts, including Severity, Onset, Documentation, Adverse Effect, Clinical Management and Probable Mechanism.

Source: Palm Boulevard

Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary

Unbound Medicine has released Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary 2.2

Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, published by F.A. Davis, defines more terms than any other health science dictionary. With approximately 56,000 terms in all -- including more than 2,200 new terms -- Taber's 19th is the most comprehensive health science dictionary available today.

Healthprolink goes multiplatform

Bellevue, Wash.-based HealthProLink Inc. has released a version of its clinical documentation system for pharmacists that can be used on PDAs running the Windows Mobile operating system. The vendor already sells a version of the software that runs on Palm OS-based PDAs. The HealthProLink system is designed to enable pharmacists to use PDAs to document clinical interventions, adverse drug reactions and medication errors. The application integrates the data on a server to enable pharmacy managers to access clinical documentation from multiple users. The software provides customized report generation and cost savings documentation. It also offers hospital-specific therapeutic interchange guidelines and drug calculating tools. For more information, go to www.healthprolink.com.

Source: MobileHealthData

Do you think Ishihara color plates on a Palm would be really useful and accurate to screen for Color Blindness? The quality of Palm screens these days has improved alot. I am posting this as a test also of Blogger's new "Hello" photoblog service.  

EMOnCall

Skyscape has released Emergency Medicine On Call :

This user-friendly reference assists in the initial evaluation and treatment of the most frequently encountered problems in emergency medicine, both common and potentially life-threatening. Get instant access to 97 of the most common or important emergency medicine problems experienced by adult, pediatric, and geriatric populations. Each section includes the presenting problem, immediate questions, differential diagnosis, laboratory and diagnostic data, and treatment plan. Additional sections such as toxicologic emergencies, laboratory diagnosis, procedures, blood component therapy, and commonly used medications are also included and enhance the reference value as a single-source reference.

Skyscape also has other products for the ER personnel:
5MinuteEmerg 2
PktEM

5MEmerg2 is probably the most comprehensive as it covers more (600) topics. However you get to choose which suits you more.

PDA App Flies High

MobileHealthData reports:

Boston MedFlight, a provider of critical care transport services in the New England area, soon will have mobile access to medical reference data from eMedicine.com Inc., Omaha, Neb. The not-for-profit organization, which was created through a collaboration of six Boston-area hospitals, will use the vendor's Clinical Knowledge Base application when transporting patients via its helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and ground vehicles. The software features medical information on more than 6,500 diseases and conditions, as well as multimedia presentations, drug tables, and other clinical tools. The peer-reviewed information is provided by more than 10,000 authors and editors. It can be accessed via an Internet connection or on PDAs running the Palm OS or Windows Mobile operating system. Boston Medflight's operations are based at Hanscom Air Force Base, Bedford, Mass. For more information on the Clinical Knowledge Base application, go to www.emedicine.com.

Audience Response Made Easy with PDAs

I've always marvelled at the lectures/talks I've attended where there is instant feedback from the audience - realt-time polling - using specialised electronic voting equipment.
It was interesting to read in Family Medicine Notes of a recent paper in Jamia on "Audience Response Made Easy: Using Personal Digital Assistants as a Classroom Polling Tool".
The abstract:

Both teachers and students benefit from an interactive classroom. The teacher receives valuable input about effectiveness, student interest, and comprehension, whereas student participation, active learning, and enjoyment of the class are enhanced. Cost and deployment have limited the use of existing audience response systems, allowing anonymous linking of teachers and students in the classroom. These limitations can be circumvented, however, by use of personal digital assistants (PDAs), which are cheaper and widely used by students. In this study, the authors equipped a summer histology class of 12 students with PDAs and wireless Bluetooth cards to allow access to a central server. Teachers displayed questions in multiple-choice format as a Web page on the server and students responded with their PDAs, a process referred to as polling. Responses were immediately compiled, analyzed, and displayed. End-of-class survey results indicated that students were enthusiastic about the polling tool. The surveys also provided technical feedback that will be valuable in streamlining future trials

Fascinating. Now if there enough PDA (BT or Wifi equipped) users in the audience, this would be a feasible way to have an interactive audience the next time one gives a talk without having to invest too much on specialised polling equipment.

New XML feeds

Please note that I have now added Atom XML and RSS 1.0 links for those of you who prefer Atom or RSS to read this blog. Let me know if there are problems. Thanks.

Contact Management

How do you manage your Patient contacts? Do you use a specialised patient tracking app? I personally find these cumbersome. My most used program to track patients is Agendus (formerly known as Action Names) and as a long time registered user of Agendus, I can say it has served my needs very well. Agendus suits people (like doctors) whose meetings are very Contact-centric. I find it useful because you can link the Meeting event to the Contact and when you write meeting notes, these can be Logged into the Contact's Note field. The latest version of Agendus (v 8.0) has just been released by Iambic. The major enhancements are:
- abilty to link multiple Contacts (Attendees) to meetings (hmmm. perhaps now Group therapists can use this program!)
- ability to Export the Contact History (useful to keep track of all meetings, todos for your patients)
- Images for your contacts (if you can't remember the Name, now you can have pictures)
- Location field support
- Third party Email and SMS client support

Actually Agendus is almost the perfect Patient tracker (and general PIM program) for me. If Agendus comes up with a special Medical Edition (e.g. with Lab and Drug modules) it would be superb.
Download AgendusPro from Palmgear

e-Rx App Gets the Message

MobileHealthData reports:

May 18, 2004 - Clinicians using CarePoint electronic prescription software from New York-based HealthRamp Corp. soon will be able to send prescription information directly to pharmacies via their PDAs. They will be able to do so using their PDAs to access the SureScripts Messenger Services from SureScripts, Alexandria, Va. The technology integration initiative is the result of an agreement announced today between HealthRamp, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ramp Corp., and SureScripts. The CarePoint software is designed to enable physicians to write prescriptions, as well as access lab orders and results via PDAs running the Palm OS or Windows Mobile operating systems. SureScripts Messenger Services is a network designed to help clinicians electronically transmit refill authorizations, clarifications, new prescriptions and other prescribing transactions to pharmacies across the United States. The network was founded by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association to establish two-way electronic communication between physicians and pharmacists. More than 50% of retail pharmacies participate in the network. For more information, go to www.healthramp.com or www.surescripts.com.

All I can say is this all sounds fantastic. Will it appear where I live? Perhaps in the year 2020... :(

MedPDA.net

...where we blend tech and Medicine on the Go....

There's a new place to hang out if you are a Healthcare professional and into PDAs: MedPDA.net. Thanks to lf777 who posted the link in the KVPUG Doctor's Shack.
Looks like a new site with great potential for news and reviews in the PDA world.

Accessing Medical Records on your PDA

MobileHealthData has this story:

May 18, 2004 - Tallahassee (Fla.) Memorial HealthCare will offer its home health clinicians access to electronic medical records software on PDAs. The records software is an application within the integrated clinical and financial systems Tallahassee Memorial recently purchased from Reading, Mass.-based HealthWyse LLC. Home health clinicians soon will be able to access the records system software on PDAs running the Windows Mobile operating system. The software is designed to help them collect a variety of data from their home-bound patients, such as standard charting information and Outcome and Assessment Information Set, or OASIS, information required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The clinicians will upload the data into the delivery system's information systems twice a day from patient homes via a dial-up modem connection to their PDA. The connection also will enable them to download data on their next scheduled patients from the system to their PDA. For more information, go to www.healthwyse.com.

It's interesting to see that they are using Dial-up as the means to transfer data. Isn't this rather archaic? This day and age, true mobility means going wireless. I know there aren't many WiFi hotspots out there, but I there is an obvious alternative - physicians upload/download their data via GPRS which is more ubiquitous. The only drawback to the latter is the potentially greater cost, depending on the providers GPRS rates but it certainly beats wires and dependency on phone access.
I personally use a Tungsten T3. This lacks Wifi which I don't find that useful anyway since when I am on the road there isn't any Wifi. I really appreciate the Bluetooth connection to my SonyEricsson t610 phone which connects via GPRS to the Internet. Now that's true mobility.

CardioDxTx

Skyscape has released CardioDxTx 7.02:

Description: Only the essential information needed to diagnose and manage patients with cardiac diseases. 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. Features * In-a-nutshell information on the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac diseases and disorders * Quick navigation for easy access * Covers ambulatory and inpatient medicine * Includes ischemic heart disease, hypertension, and other common conditions * A must for medical students, residents, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, and general and family practitioners

MercuryMD Adds New Customers

MobileHealthData has the news:

May 17, 2004 - Four provider organizations recently have begun using mobile software from Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based MercuryMD. The providers are using the vendor's MData Enterprise System to offer clinicians access to their clinical information systems on PDAs running the Palm OS or Windows Mobile operating systems. Some of the organizations also are using the vendor's new MData Desktop and SmartCare applications. MData Desktop is an extension of the MData Enterprise System that enables access to clinical information systems on Tablet PCs. SmartCare is a patient management application designed to assist providers in improving patient outcomes by identifying high-risk populations. New MercuryMD software customers include: St. Joseph's Hospital, Atlanta; Marietta (Ohio) Memorial Health System; Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington; and The Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha. The vendor now reports 47 customers, representing 123 hospitals nationwide. For more information, go to www.mercurymd.com.

BMJ Theme Issue on your PDA


The BMJ has a 2004 theme issue on electronic communication and healthcare.

Dr. Mohammad Al-Ubaydli has converted a Repligo version which you can download for free to view on your PDA if you so choose. The Repligo viewer is free to download and use as well.

Thanks to Ectopic Brain for the headsup.

Going thru this issue, there's an interesting article "Doctors' experience with handheld computers in clinical practice: qualitative study"

The authors cite several categories of users:
- Non-users
- Niche users
- Routine users
- Power users

The power user:

- Constant use characterised by desire to push device to its functional limits; often developed original programs or databases; described frequent upgrades
- All paper: it replaces "everything in my pocket"
- Technophiles, peer champions, active promoters, like to show off latest devices and functions
- "It's my life"; "I've always loved technology and gadgets"

Are you a Power user? I think I am ;)

Digestive System Anatomy Flash Cards

Anatomy students can turn to Medicalwizards for help. They have a bunch of Anatomy Flash Cards. They have recently released Digestive System Anatomy Flash Cards (Bryan Edwards) 1.0

Application Description: The Digestive System Flash Cards product uses the time tested content and images from BryanEdwards.com and displays the necessary images to demonstrate the digestive system. This PDA version starts by examining the elementary canal, then leads to the gastrointestinal tract, and finishes with the accessory structures. Substantial text content detailing each image, and a quiz (?) section has been added to aid as a learning tool. Whether an attending physician using this product to demonstrate anatomical terms to a patient, a medical, dental or nursing student, or undergraduate anatomy student; this product will exceed your expectations and needs.

The other Flash cards in the Medicalwizards library of PDA software include

•Netter's Anatomy Flash Cards
•Cardiovascular Anatomy Flash Cards (Bryan Edwards)
•Urinary Anatomy Flash Cards (Bryan Edwards)
•Bones
•Nervous System Anatomy Flash Cards (Bryan Edwards)
•Head & Neck Anatomy Flash Cards (Bryan Edwards)
•Reproductive Anatomy Flash Cards (Bryan Edwards)
•Endocrine Anatomy Flash Cards (Bryan Edwards)
•Muscles Anatomy Flash Cards (Bryan Edwards)
•Respiratory Anatomy Flash Cards (Bryan Edwards)
•Integument Anatomy Flash Cards (Bryan Edwards)

Both Palm and PPC versions are available. All you need is some $$$ and a LARGE SD card for storing all these fantastic study aids. I wish I had them when I was a medical student!

PDA-based Dosing System Gets FDA Nod

MobileHealthData has the news:

Dimensional Dosing Systems Inc. has announced the Food and Drug Administration has approved its PDA-accessible drug dosage software. The vendor's Intelligent Dosing System incorporates patient-specific dosing data into a proprietary dosage model that then calculates the optimal dose needed to achieve the desired goal. The system is used for determining optimum dosages of insulin and other drugs as well as combinations of drugs. It is designed to reduce the risk of potentially dangerous side effects. In a two year study of more that 260 patients through the Grady Health System's Diabetes Clinic, a teaching affiliate of Emory University in Atlanta, the Intelligent Dosing System was loaded on PDAs and given to clinicians for use in adjusting total daily insulin dose. "These analyses suggest the IDS is a useful adjunct for decisions regarding insulin therapy even when using a variety of markers of glucose control, and can be used by practitioners to assist in attainment of glycemic goals," says Curtiss Cook, M.D., the principal investigator in the study. Study results will be published in the June issue of Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics. For more information, visit www.3ddosing.com.

I suppose now every other PDA app which has drug dosage calculator functions need FDA approval too?

Clinical Trial Acronyms

Looking for a PDA resource to search for Clinical Trial Acronyms? Mind boggling isn't it - having to recall what IRIS, ISIS and what not stand for.

Clinical Trial Acronyms has a PDA database which you can purchase for $5 (requires the shareware Celica Database Viewer).
Otherwise if you have a wireless PDA, you could surf over to Clinical Trial Acronyms and search for the Acronym....

Acronym Search
	Exact phrase  All words  Any word

Davis's Drug Guide

Unbound Medicine has released Davis's Drug Guide with AutoUpdates 2.2

Davis's Drug Guide, the best-selling drug reference produced by F.A. Davis, is now delivered via Unbound Medicine's award-winning handheld platform. This comprehensive and up-to-date resource provides need-to-know information on thousand of brand name and generic drugs. Via Unbound Medicine's CogniQ platform, this leading drug reference will stay up to date simply by synchronizing your handheld. There is no need to download large installer files and re-install the entire application, as is required by other products. Instead, only new or changed medications will be sent to you quarterly, and they will be downloaded automatically the moment they become available!

Good for Unbound Medicine. ePocrates users of course have been doing this for a long time. Now there's Skyscape left to follow suit.

The challenges of PDA adoption

Imagine, giving away PDAs for free to medical students and residents does not guarantee a high percentage of uptake in PDA use amongst clinicians. MobileHealthData has this article:

Nearly thee years ago, Ohio State University Medical Center started handing out PDAs for free to third- and fourth-year medical students and residents. To date, the medical center has distributed about 2,600 devices that clinicians are allowed to keep even if they move on to other provider organizations. But distributing a large number of PDAs doesn't necessarily equal a successful initiative. Only 10% to 20% of students and residents use their PDAs to download patient data before starting rounds, estimates Andrew Thomas, M.D., medical director. Three-quarters of students and half the residents use the mobile hardware primarily to access drug information and curriculum materials. Truth be told, most students and residents did not embrace the use of PDAs when the program started, and many still don't, Thomas says. In hindsight, moving too fast may have slowed acceptance, he adds.

I think its the case of technology moving a little too fast for the end user. I am told there were trials in Hong Kong and Singapore which were not very successful for various reasons. Is this the right direction then or are PDAs useful only for a select few geek doctors? I think so. It's the way forward to more efficient use of technology to access information on the go - drug information, laboratory information, patient information and the ultimate goal: use the PDA as part of "e-rounding" and ordering tests and medication. I think the investment would be huge and even vendors are still learning so it'll be some time yet before this takes off.

Which platform to use?

One lesson the school has learned is to standardize PDAs, Skinner says. For the medical center, that means Palm devices, which he contends are far easier to support and easier for novices to learn to use. Standardization also makes it easier to learn to use an upgraded device from the same vendor.

Amen to that ;)

Another Medical Handheld Forum

Apart from KVPUG's Doctors' Shack, there's another Handheld forum from Doc's Board.
I have duly added the link to the others on the left of this blog. Thanks to KVPUG's Beyond for pointing this out.

Great places to go if you wish to discuss Handhelds with others in the medical profession - med students, doctors and other healthcare professionals.

OncoMd 2004

Skyscape has updated OncoMD for 2004. This is the PDA version of the Physician's Cancer Chemotherapy Drug Manual 2004.

Completely revised and updated for 2004, this practical handbook is an up-to-date guide to all aspects of cancer chemotherapy. This reference provides a comprehensive, easy to use Index of over 100 drugs -- both on- and off-label -- commonly used in cancer treatment. All entries have been updated meticulously as necessary, and this new edition includes five new agents (recently or about to be FDA approved). A section on Common Chemotherapy Regimens provides a quick reference to management of specific cancers, arranged alphabetically. A new section on Principles of Chemotherapy offers a concise update and overview of the field.

Sanford 2004



The Sanford Guide 2004 has been released.
Can't understand why the PDA version ($25) costs more than the Print version ($22.50).

Free iSilo documents from PDACortex

Here are some freebies which may interest you:

FDA CFR Clinical Trials FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Volume 1 Revised as of April 1, 2003 TITLE 21 Part 50, Part 54, Part 56 and Part 312

HIPAA on HAND HIPAA on HAND contains the Regulation Text Only of the HIPAA Regulations & Standards. And was transcribed from: The Office for Civil Rights website on Medical Privacy - National Standards to Protect the Privacy of Personal Health Information. HIPAA on Hand is a PDA reference and is intended only as a quick reference guide.

PedsSx

New from Skyscape: PedsSx (The Diagnostic Approach to Symptoms and Signs in Pediatrics, Second Ed)

Now available in PDA format, this practical guide helps clinicians streamline pediatric diagnosis with a comprehensive, integrated, logical approach to analysis of symptoms and signs. Dr. Bellet helps practitioners answer three basic questions: What are the diagnostic possibilities? How can I diagnose each one? What is my approach to this problem? Users can quickly find a symptom or sign by searching an alphabetical list and get a step-by-step guide to the diagnostic process, including the differential diagnosis. Specific information on each disorder addresses frequency of occurrence, accompanying signs and symptoms, and diagnosis.

Saunder's Pocket Essentials of Clinical Medicine

ClinicalMed (Saunder's Pocket Essentials of Clinical Medicine, 3rd Ed) has been released by Skyscape:

A volume in the well-known Saunders' Pocket Essentials series, the New Edition of this popular handbook is the ideal reference for students throughout their clinical studies. It provides a comprehensive account of general medical problems while facilitating the learning process. This reference includes medical emergency information, offering more information on contraindications; problem-oriented questions with answers; information on practical procedures; a dictionary of terms; abbreviations and normal values; differential diagnosis tables and more.

I am not sure what's the most popular pocketbook of medicine amongst medical students here nowadays. During my time we would be stuffing the quite thick Oxford Handbook of Medicine into our labcoat pockets. Students are so lucky these days. Technology now enables you to put the OHM into your PDA. Franklin has a Mobipocket version of the Oxford Handbook of Medicine. I wonder if Skyscape will consider coming out with their version. Some may prefer the Skyscape interface as I find it's easier to navigate and lookup things using the Skyscape format rather than an e-book format.

Docs of Uninsured Get Free PDAs

Well, there's a sweet reward for you. MobileHealthData has the news:

May 5, 2004 - Westlake Village, Calif.-based CareDecision Corp. will distribute PDAs equipped with its electronic prescription software to 20,000 physicians who serve uninsured patients. The initiative, with a price tag near $50 million, will be launched in several states later this month. The program is designed to build and support an electronic network of physicians that treat primarily uninsured patients by enabling them to use CareDecision health care software via PDAs and servers. The vendor's applications include electronic prescribing, medical records, laboratory, scheduling and other software, all of which can be accessed on PDAs. CareDecision will work with CareGeneration Inc. to distribute the technology. CareGeneration is a division of Kelly Co. World Group Inc., a privately held Delaware-based distribution company. For more information, go to www.caredecision.net

I wonder if we'll ever see the same thing over here where I live. Like "Public sector doctors get Free PDAs". Hmmm. Not in a million years.

FDA Takes a Look at e-Diary Data

MobileHealthData reports:

May 4, 2004 - In recent years, a small but growing number of clinical trials have adopted electronic diaries as the medium for patients to record their daily health status. The trend has not gone unnoticed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency that reviews the efficacy of clinical trials data and is the final arbiter of whether a new drug, biological product or medical device is safe enough to be released to the marketplace. As a result, the agency has formed a workgroup, in consultation with the industry, to develop guidance on the use of e-diaries to ensure the integrity of data coming from them. No timetable has been set for the release of the guidance. ...

Read the full report here

New Psychiatric Survey

Skyscape Survey Finds Key Psychiatric Reference Use on PDAs Helps Reduce Medical Errors; Respondents Shed Light on Impact of Television and Popular Music on Brain Development:

NEW YORK (APA Annual Meeting, Booth 171) -May 4, 2004-A new survey released today at the American Psychiatric Association’s 157th Annual Meeting shows significant results about psychiatrists’ increasing reliance on their handheld computers (PDAs) and their impact on daily activities. More than 64 percent of the survey respondents use their PDA more than four times a day, with 12 percent using it more than 25 times a day. Some of the most useful PDA references for psychiatrists are gold standard clinical references, such as DSM-IV-TR, drug references and drug interaction guides­with over 71 percent of survey respondents crediting PDAs with helping them reduce medical errors. Additionally, 67 percent of respondents indicated that television is leading to increasing acts of violence by youth today; and 54 percent of respondents believe that the way the music industry presents mature pop artists is causing the youth of today to grow up faster than 10 years ago. More than 40 percent concluded that increased exposure to adult information changes the way the brain develops. The survey of more than 280 psychiatrists who use handheld computers was conducted by Skyscape®, Inc. (www.skyscape.com)

To the point

MobileHealthData has this story about Point of Careware:

May 3, 2004 - Geriatric App Vendor Raises Money Kirkland, Wash.-based Point of CareWare Inc. has brought its total company capitalization to $6 million after a recent round of venture capital funding. The vendor will use the additional funds to expand sales and marketing efforts as well as develop new software. Point of CareWare's software is designed to offer clinical data collection and retrieval on PDAs. After it's collected, the data is sent over a secure Internet connection to a Web site hosted by the vendor. Users can access data on their PDAs or PCs via the secure site. The application is designed for assisted living and retirement facilities, many of which haven't automated the collection of resident assessment, scheduling, supply monitoring and other data.

Asthma Revisited

There's a thread going on in KVPUG's Doctors' Shack on asthma.

This reminded me to post that one can use your PDA to help manage asthma - both from the Physician and Patient perspective.

Some Palm software that might be of use to you:

Asthmameister (freeware)

Application Description: A comprehensive guide to the diagnosis and management of asthma. This e-book designed for the iSilo document reader contains more than 170 pages of information woven together with hyperlinks to make finding the information you need fast and easy. Includes a step-by-step diagnostic algorithm, differential diagnosis, normal peak flow readings, classification of severity, and recommendations for treatment of chronic asthma and asthma exacerbations. Content is based on the NAEPP asthma guidelines and supplemented with an evidence-based review of the asthma-related medical literature from 1998 to the present. An indispensable reference for medical students, interns/residents, and practicing physicians. If you enjoy AsthmaMeister, please visit www.FPPalm.com to check out other free medical applications in the Meister series.

Asthma Manager 1.01 (shareware)

Application Description: Manage the information your need to manage your asthma.Track your peak flows, asthma episodes, inhaler use and your asthma profile. Create a customised asthma action plan. Easy to use reminders for medication next dose, prescription refills and doctors appointments. Remind yourself of issues to raise at the next visit to your doctor.Also record personal data including insurance infomation, height, weight, immunizations, other medical history, medications ,allergies, emergency and family contacts.Store names, details and contact info on your asthma resources. We have included a page for notes too.The registered version comes with five different color schemes.

Does anyone know of other useful Standalone Palm apps with regard to Asthma?

P.S.
Coincidentally, May 4th is World Asthma Day! This is an event organised by GINA

Hyperbili

Timothy Allen has released Hyperbili which is I think a useful freebie for you folks in the Paediatric field.

Description: Hyperbili helps physicians apply the AAP's recomendations for the managment of Neonatal Jaundice.

Now if only some one could come up with an attachment which can convert your PDA into a portable Bilirubin checker, something like Bilicheck. Then you could be truly mobile carrying a device which could check the baby's Bilirubin level and also lookup the AAP recommendation, all in one!

Med Students Should Go Mobile

MobileHealthData reports:

April 30, 2004 - Medical students should be required to routinely use mobile hardware during the course of their studies and internships, according to the April 2004 Mobile Opinions online survey conducted by Mobile Health Data. Eighty-two percent of respondents said using mobile technology should be a mandatory part of medical school curriculums. Fifteen percent of respondents said medical students should be encouraged--rather than required--to use mobile hardware in their studies or internships. Additionally, 3% said the use of mobile technology in medical schools should not be required or encouraged.

The majority has spoken. So if you are a Med Student and without a PDA, go out and get one. NOW.

Eponyms

Andrew Yee has updated his great freebie, Eponyms.

Eponyms v1.81 Description: Rovsing's sign? Virchow's node? Here is a list of over 1,500 medical eponyms, common and obscure, with descriptions. Update Description: v1.81 (4/30/04): - Added 15 eponyms since last update, now 1500 eponyms!

New AHRQ Tool for PDAs Helps Clinicians

Newswire:

WASHINGTON, April 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality today announced a second clinical decision-support tool for personal digital assistants (PDAs) that is designed to help clinicians deliver evidence-based medicine when they are with a patient. AHRQ's new Interactive Tool, the Preventive Services Selector, an application for Palm Pilots and other PDAs, is designed to help clinicians quickly and easily search for which preventive services to provide-or not provide-to patients based on their age and gender. The tool is available for download from the AHRQ Web site at http://pda.ahrq.gov/. "This new tool puts the latest information about prevention into the hands of doctors, who can put it to use immediately by recommending the appropriate preventive services for each individual patient," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. "It's one of the many ways that we're working to tap the power of modern technology to improve the quality of care for all Americans." The interactive preventive services tool is based on the latest recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. The tool will be automatically updated with new Task Force recommendations each time the PDA is synchronized. The Task Force, sponsored by AHRQ, is the leading independent panel of experts in prevention and primary care. The Task Force conducts rigorous, impartial assessments of all of the scientific evidence for a broad range of preventive services, and its recommendations are considered the gold standard for clinical prevention. AHRQ PDA applications are available for download at http://pda.ahrq.gov/. The AHRQ Preventive Services Selector is available in Palm OS, Pocket PC and HTML formats. Additional AHRQ PDA applications are under development. "The Preventive Services Selector, along with AHRQ's recently announced Pneumonia Severity Index Calculator tool, is a good example of how technology can support and improve the delivery of evidence-based health care services," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. "AHRQ is continuing to find ways to combine state- of-the-science research with technology to create tools that clinicians can use every day." For more information, see the Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, Third Edition, online at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/gcpspu.htm. For more information on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, visit the AHRQ Web site at: http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstfix.htm.

Saving Lives with a Simple PDA

David Kirpatrick has an interesting story in Fortune

Many IT-related projects in Africa are failing. That's because, Peters says, too many ignore the basic criteria for success: "Small, cheap, local, and relevant are the key things for IT here, with a suite of applications around the device." Often, for instance, what's appropriate is not a PC but a handheld, or even just a cellphone. (One of the main reasons for that? PCs are often stolen.) Assessments are not what's needed, she says. Action is. "Our calculation is that 84 different countries worldwide have had their IT assessed more than 10 times." Peters says the most effective use of technology she's ever seen was in a pilot project that gave doctors and medical students in Kenya Palm handhelds that contained a regularly updated set of medical reference materials. Drugs change frequently, as do treatment regimens. But, she explains, "Doctors are out all day seeing patients two to a bed and on the floor—so many it's unbelievable. They make notes on each patient but without a handheld they have to wait until the end of the day to check reference books for drug interactions and other information." The program resulted in clear improvements in patient care.

Amen to that. Small, cheap local and above all relevant to the needs of the country in question.

Peters is excited about a program Bridges has underway in its home city of Cape Town, which has one of the world's highest rates of tuberculosis infection. One doctor at a TB clinic was frustrated that even among patients who had come up with the money to join a treatment program, success rates were only about 60% because skipping the drugs for even one day meant someone had to start all over again. But he noticed that most of the patients had cellphones. ("In Africa people who don't even have addresses have cellphones," says Peters.) So he designed a program that automatically sends out daily SMS text messages to those phones in local languages. It says, according to Peters, "essentially that if you don't take your medicine you will die." Treatment success rates shot up. Now the City of Cape Town is considering rolling out the program in all 27 TB clinics across the city, and testing it in AIDS clinics.

Now this is interesting. Sending SMSes (or Texting) is an extremely popular form of communication in Asia. Its cheap and I was interested to read of this novel method on increasing medication compliance rates. Perhaps it could be adopted elsewhere.
How do you send SMSes? I prefer to do so from my PDA rather than the mobile phone - it's much easier to "text" via Graffiti and transmit it via Bluetooth to my SonyEricsson t610.

Smart Phones to Run Clinical App

Own a spanking new Treo600? Well, MobileHealthData has this bit of news which may interest you:

Sprint and MercuryMD have formed an agreement that would enable caregivers to access clinical data on smart phones. As a result, Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based MercuryMD will offer its MData mobile software via smart phones from Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint. The MData system is designed to enable access to various clinical systems within a health care organization on mobile hardware over a wireless network. The extension of the system to smart phones is one of the first applications to come out of an agreement between Sprint and Milpitas, Calif.-based palmOne Inc. that was announced in February. Caregivers will be able to access the MData system on the Treo smart phone from palmOne over a wireless high-speed data network from Sprint. The vendors integrated the technologies to appease caregivers who often want access to clinical systems outside their organizations, MercuryMD executives say. The combined technologies will be sold by Trio Teknologies Inc., a Carrolton, Texas-based distributor of wireless voice and data services. For more information, go to www.sprint.com or www.mercurcymd.com.

New Palms from palmOne

Ok not really medical but I guess you heard the news. The Zire31 and Zire 72 have landed!
The Zire72 looks impressive. Check out the reviews in BrightHand and PalmAddicts.

As for me I am sticking with my T3. For medical use, yuo really need the Ram. So many nice apps and some of them (yeah, ePocrates, when are you going to introduce SD/MS card support!!) really eat Ram.

I am still waiting for the SD Wifi drivers - that would make my setup complete:

T3
Power2Go
Palm Portable Keyboard
SE t610 Bluetooth mobile phone
Canon BJC-50 portable printer.
SD Wifi card

Now I can ditch that notebook ;)

Medsync freebies

A couple of FREE apps from Medsync have been updated:

Pneumonia Severity Index 1.1 is listed as $5.99 at their website but the company is now giving it away - grab it while it's free!

Description: This is a simple predictive program that can be used to detect those patients that are very critical that need to be in the ICU. This program can also help determine which patients can be safely treated as an outpatient if the computed risk of complication is low enough. This program is based on 2 studies from which a prognostic model was developed to accurately identify critical patients with Community Acquired Pneumonia.

The other freebie (also listed at $5.99 in their website) is Lung Injury Score 2.0

This is a simple calculator to determine the extent of lung damage present in your patients that have ARDS and that are on the ventilator. It is quite simple to use and the extent of damage to their lungs is easily stratified into a None, Mild, Moderate, or Severe probability of lung injury. Simply select from the drop-down menus and hit Lung Injury Score to calculate the extent of injury. Those who chose to register will obtain FREE lifetime updates and bug fixes.

Midnight Medicine

Medical Wizards have released a new PDA application:

Midnight Medicine: a quick-reference to assist Emergency, Primary Care Physicians, Mid Level Providers and House Staff in managing common medical emergencine The third edition of Midnight Medicine has been completely revised and updated with new entries for atrial fibrillation, unstable angina, headache, toxicology, and endotracheal intubation. All information has been optimized for display in the PDA format, and a comprehensive index facilitates rapid navigation. A powerful bonus is the addition of integrated calculators by Medical Wizards for many drug doses and for the numerous clinical scales and scoring systems. This quick-reference will assist Emergency, Primary Care Physicians, Mid Level Providers and House Staff in managing patients during the initial hours of common medical emergencies.

Looks good. And attractively priced @ under US$30.

The Medical Letter - PalmOS Edition

The Medical Letter is now available in Palm PDA format. They have also released Treatment Guidelines in Palm PDA format. The Press Release:

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, only about half of patients receive standard of care treatment. To provide health care professionals with up-to-date standard of care treatment information, The Medical Letter today released the PDA version of Treatment Guidelines from The Medical Letter, a publication that provides authoritative drug prescribing recommendations. Treatment Guidelines, also available in print and online, provides physicians and other healthcare professionals with unbiased drug treatment recommendations for common diseases. "The unique editorial process used to produce Treatment Guidelines results in prescribing recommendations that are free of pharmaceutical influence," said deputy editor Gianna Zuccotti, M.D., M.P.H. "Now these trusted recommendations can be easily accessed by physicians through their PDA." Each month, Treatment Guidelines from The Medical Letter provides prescribing and formulary recommendations for diseases such as diabetes,asthma, osteoporosis, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, heart failure, cancer, high cholesterol levels, epilepsy, pain, depression, as well as treatment of bacterial, fungal and viral infections. The print, online and PDA versions (Palm OS only) also contain invaluable retail price comparison and dosage charts. The Medical Letter, Inc., a nonprofit organization founded in 1958, offers health care professionals objective, independent analysis of both prescription and over-the-counter drugs. In addition to its newsletters, The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics and Treatment Guidelines from The Medical Letter, also publishes handbooks and software on topics such as adverse drug interactions and antimicrobial therapy. The Medical Letter, Inc., is supported entirely by subscriber fees and is based in New Rochelle, NY. For more information about The Medical Letter visit their Web site at http://www.medicalletter.org.

The Medical Letter HandHeld Edition has these features:

Drug recommendations and analysis you can trust, available at the point-of-care.
Search drugs by name, class, indication or by publication date.
Pharmacology, clinical studies, adverse effects and cost information is presented for each drug.
Invaluable drug/cost tables from the print edition.
References for each article.
Frequency: updated biweekly.

Minimum Requirements:
Handheld Operating System: Palm OS 3.1 or higher
Handheld Memory minimum: 1.2MB



Treatment Guidelines Handheld Edition has these features:

AutoUpdate feature automatically downloads the latest articles when you HotSync (Windows only).
Clinical studies, adverse effects and cost comparison for each drug.
Invaluable dosage/cost tables from the print edition.
References for each article.
Delete articles feature allows you to maximize your PDAs memory.
Convenient! Now access on your PDA all the information from the print version.


Minimum Requirements:
Handheld Operating System: Palm OS 3.3 or higher
Handheld Memory minimum: 4MB Built-in, 700KB free
AutoUpdate requires Windows 98 or later





Now the sad news. Both these versions cost extra $$$ (US$40-49 for current subscribers with a discount for students and interns) on top of what current subscribers are paying. I think the publishers should reconsider this pricing strategy. Surely they could encourage more subscriber loyalty by providing subscribers FREE access to the PDA version. The NEJM provides free PDA format of its articles. Another thing is the PalmOS format has the advantage on huge savings in printing costs. They should have a subscription option whereby the subscriber opts only for the PDA format - then they could have a special PDA format only subscription rate which could be lower than the print edition.

AMA Code of Ethics on your PDA

For over 155 years, the AMA Code of Medical Ethics has been considered the most comprehensive ethics guide for physicians, covering a wide range of issues related to the patient-physician relationship, such as confidentiality and end-of-life care. It also addresses social policy issues that affect medical practice matters such as medical records, fees and charges, and professional rights

Well, you can now carry the AMA Code of Medical Ethics on your PDA. Just surf over to the AMA and follow the instructions to synch the Code onto your PDA. The site uses Avantgo to transfer the pages over to your PDA.

ePocrates - no Mac freebie?

Earlier this week I gave a talk to colleagues in the hospital where I work on the use of a PDA to access drug formularies. The talk was well attended and there were plenty of questions. I naturally had talked about ePocrates since this is probably the most widely used formulary. Someone asked me if it was available for Mac users and I answered that I wan't sure. Well I just visited the ePocrates site and it looks like Mac is supported only for the Pro version and not the free ePocratesRx version - gee I wonder why? This sort of discriminates against Mac users :(

By the way, if you are giving a talk, one great way to give a live demo of Palm PDA usage is to use POSE, the Palm Emulator. This projects very well and generally people are more impressed with this than static Powerpoint pages. It's certainly a cheaper alternative to getting a Margi Presenter-to-go SD module!



The emulator is free and you can get it from Palmsource

MedCalc

Mathias Tschopp has updated his great freebie, MedCalc to version 5.0
If you haven;t installed it yet, you must! MedCalc is the most full-featured medical calculator for Palm OS, ever!



Update Description:
v5.0 (04/22/04):

- Adds 3 formulas (target height, pressure gradient, two-way table)
- Adds new onscreen numeric keypad on most formulas to ease data input
- Detailed information can be viewed in place of the virtual graffiti area
- Adds Sony support for collapsible input area
- The usual bug fixes

More on mobile dictation

Mobilehealthdata has this piece of news:

April 21, 2004 - Auckland, New Zealand-based WinScribe Inc. has released dictation software for use on PDAs and smart phones. The software, dubbed WinScribe Pocket Author for PDAs and Smart Phones, integrates with the vendor's PC-based suite of digital dictation applications, which are compatible with legacy dictation software from a variety of vendors. The WinScribe Pocket Author hand-held software was developed using Microsoft .Net technology. It can be integrated with various health care information systems, including scheduling and demographic applications. The new software is designed to record dictation on PDAs or smart phones for later transcription or send voice files over a wireless network to a remote system for immediate transcription. WinScribe distributes its products in the United States, New Zealand and Europe. For more information, go to www.winscribe.com.

What about PalmOS? I talked about The case for PDA dictation back in February 2004. Probably the best solution is Audacity as it gives one the option of recording in high enough quality for transcribing voice to text.

Babycheck

Babycheck has been recently updated again.
This free app allows you to track your baby's progress.

Update Description v2.3:

* Added: Possibility to select another baby to be displayed at the same time on the graphs (green curve)
* Bug correction: the automatic BMI calculation is now ok in the measurement detail screen

ACP brings PIER to the Palm

Press release:

Mobile Medical Reference Leader Top Choice For Associations Delivering Trusted Content to Members’ PDAs HUDSON, Mass.­April 19, 2004­Skyscape®, Inc. (www.skyscape.com), the leading provider of enterprise-wide mobile medical and nursing solutions, today announced that the American College of Physicians (ACP) has selected Skyscape to provide the first fully-integrated version of its Physicians’ Information and Education Resource (PIER) for handheld computers. The product will be demonstrated and available for purchase at the Skyscape Booth (#1354) at ACP’s Annual Session in New Orleans, April 22-24, 2004. The American College of Physicians is the nation’s largest medical specialty organization and second-largest physician rroup. Its membership comprises more than 115,000 internal medicine physicians, related subspecialists and medical students. “More of our members are using PDAs as part of their daily practice, and this product will provide them with a reference that will cross-index seamlessly with their other Skyscape PDA references to fully realize the usefulness of PIER’s evidence-based approach,” said ACP Executive Vice President and CEO John Tooker, MD, MBA, FACP. “Skyscape brought the technology, expertise and proven track record needed to meet our needs and the needs of our physician members. By providing immediate, cross-indexing capability with more than 180 other medical references, Skyscape has helped us bring even more functionality to PIER.” Developed and continually updated by the ACP, PIER is a decision-support tool designed for rapid point-of-care delivery of evidence-based guidance for clinicians. PIER’s disease-based modules present a series of guidance statements and practice recommendations, supported by more detailed levels of rationale and evidence.

View more info on Skyscape's ACP PIER

Hot for Mobility

Mobileheathdata has this:

Just a few days after Mother Frances Hospital implemented a mobile patient data system, more than 100 of its physicians were using their PDAs to access it. The Tyler, Texas-based hospital is part of the Trinity Mother Frances Health System. The doctors use the MData Enterprise system from Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based MercuryMD. The software enables PDA access to various patient data, including census lists, demographics, lab results, diagnostic reports, medication lists and transcribed reports from the hospital's information systems. Physicians synch their PDAs at docking stations across the hospital to download the information. The delivery system plans to offer the software to medical staff at all of its affiliated clinics within the next few months. It also has purchased the vendor's SmartCare and MData Desktop software. The SmartCare software is designed to help clinicians identify and manage high-risk patients. MData Desktop is a Web-based version of the MData software that's accessible via Tablet PCs.

Is Palm losing out to PPC and Tablet PCs in the Hospital Enterprise arena? I don't know the statistics but it would be a sad day if BillG & Co monopolise everything. I sure hope Palm can maintain its presence in Enterprise PDA computing but its going to be one tough battle. What do you think?

Hospital Finishes Hand-held Pilot

When I saw that title, I first thought that the hospital got rid of their old Palm Pilots or something ;)
Anyway its about Dell Axims!

Source: Mobilehealthdata

April 16, 2004 - Washington-based George Washington University Hospital recently completed a nine-month pilot study using PDA-based clinical applications to document patient encounters. The hospital used hand-held software from Arlington, Va.-based MobiHealth Inc. for the study, which began last June. The hospital used the vendor's charge capture, documentation and patient census applications in its intensive care department. Physicians in the department accessed the applications via Axim PDAs from Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Inc. over the hospitals Wi-Fi network. MobiHealth also used HL7 interface technology to integrate the hand-held applications with the hospital's health care information system from Siemens Medical Solutions, Malvern, Pa. The hospital found that the use of the hand-held technology reduced the amount of paperwork and time required to document the treatment of its patients. It also helped reduce the time it spent on billing, hospital executives say. The hospital used mostly paper processes in its intensive care department prior to the study. The hospital plans to continue using the mobile software and PDAs. For more information, go to www.mhealthapps.com.

Haemoncrules 1.3


I have updated Haemoncrules. Version 1.3 now contains 21 modules.

Three new modules are:

- Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis
- AML WHO Classification
- MDS WHO Classification

From version 1.3 onwards, Haemoncrules is no longer freeware but postcardware! If you find it truly useful (perhaps 20 or so people in the world haha), please do send me a postcard (address enclosed in the zip). I am really curious to know who is using this little app round the world.

Ventilator weaning

The makers of ABGPro have come up with a freebie, Ventilator setup and weaning protocols v2.0

The description:
Discontinuation of mechanical ventilation is important to patients (e.g. safety, comfort) institutional costs and resource utilization.
It is estimated that nearly half the time that patients spend on a mechanical ventilator occurs during the weaning process.
All patients requiring mechanical ventilation should receive regular assessment of discontinuation potential.
This assessment should include evidence that there has been some reversal of the underlying cause of respiratory failure, the adequacy of patient's ventilatory drive, gas exchange and hemodynamic stability.
Even patients who do not meet all conventional criteria for weaning potential may be candidates for spontaneous breathing trials.
This palm application was developed for the Queen Elizabeth Health Sciences Centre in Halifax , NS, Canada in accordance with the new Respiratory Therapy weaning protocol.
We thought we'd share it with other medical personnel to help proliferate this important procedure and protocol.
Please enjoy this complimentary application. Send us an email and tell us what you think and we will send you a registered version.

Send the registered version of ..... ABGPro? Sounds like a good deal :)

Bluegrass Family Health

Bluegrass Family Health and ePocrates, Inc. announced today that physicians and other health care professionals throughout the Bluegrass provider network -- which spans Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee and West Virginia -- will now be able to access ePocrates' comprehensive drug and clinical reference information along with the most up-to-date Bluegrass formulary (list of covered drugs) right on their handheld computer or personal digital assistant (PDA). Accessing both clinical and health plan information via one fully integrated source not only increases the physicians' workflow efficiency by reducing the pharmacy callbacks, but also saves the patients' time by not having to re-prescribe prescriptions and also money by prescribing medication with the lowest co-pay. Prescribing physicians can also look up clinical information such as dosing and drug interactions, at the point-of-care before a prescription is written, directly enhancing patient safety and ultimately satisfaction. Bluegrass is focused on deploying technology that not only increases efficiency and lowers costs, but also directly benefits the patient. The ePocrates software will allow physicians to spend more time with their patients and less time searching for formulary guidelines. The physician's questions can be answered with a touch of a button, said Dr. Jaudon Behrman, Chief Medical Officer for Bluegrass. In addition to the formulary listing, ePocrates technology allows the physician to view generic drug information, drug interactions, contraindications and adverse reactions. This software will help prevent medication errors and allow physicians to spend more quality time with their patients. Source

Kudos to Bluegrass and ePocrates. Recently I spoke on PDAs in Medicine (Mobile Healthcare Solutions) @ eHealth Asia 2004 and there was a lively Q&A session after my talk. Feed back from Singapore and HongKong: their early experiments with PDAs in hospital use were failures. The doctors found them "too cumbersome". The Singaporean admitted it was because they used "1kg WinCE machines". The HK doctors found their PDAs with 6 hr battery lives too complicated for them. I guess they should have used PalmOS machines, duh...... ;)

MICROMEDEX offer

Thomson MICROMEDEX to Offer APhA Members Comprehensive Mobile Suite:

MICROMEDEX, announced today a special offer for members of the nation's largest pharmacy association, American Pharmacists Association (APhA).

APhA professional and student members now have complimentary access to mobileMICROMEDEX. This tool allows clinicians to download to their Palm OS or Pocket PC PDA, concise medical information on drugs, alternative medicine, acute care, and toxicology, which is derived from the comprehensive MICROMEDEX® Healthcare Series databases that 88% of top hospitals* use every day. Also included is a drug interaction tool to help pharmacists identify potential adverse drug events. Pharmacists play a key role in working with other health professionals to keep patients safe. One way is through the prevention of drug interactions.

Skyscape Launches Constellation

Skyscape(R), Inc, the leading provider of enterprise-wide mobile medical and nursing solutions, today announced its new line of Constellation(TM) suites--the first and only fully integrated, all-in-one handheld solution customized for individual medical specialties and practitioners. Unlike other handheld references, Skyscape Constellation suites are comprised of top references and clinical decision making tools--all integrated utilizing Skyscape's patented smARTlink(TM) functionality, which allows practitioners to cross-link between any of the over 180 references powered by Skyscape. No other product comes close to the level of integration, breadth and depth of Skyscape's Constellation suites.

The first five Constellation suites are for Anesthesiology, Cardiology, Emergency Medicine, Nursing and Pediatrics. Skyscape will introduce Constellation suites for additional specialties later this year.

"While other companies may talk about providing full integration, Skyscape delivers it with all of our titles," said Sandeep Shah, President and CEO, for Skyscape. "Constellation is another important milestone in how Skyscape is extending its domination of the PDA medical reference market, by leveraging the power of our patented smARTlink technology. Our goal is to provide a complete, integrated solution that contains the most popular, proven references and decision-making tools for individual specialties."

Constellation's Power In Action--Seamless Integration and Comprehensive Information

Constellation's decision-making and reference tools include clinical references, drug guides, drug interaction analyzers, medical calculators, ICD-9 coding tools and much more. For the first time, trusted medical references from a variety of leading publishers are available as a single, integrated suite. Each Constellation suite includes a unified interface which enables a medical professional to seamlessly access and navigate the suite of products with one touch of a stylus on their handheld device, and without having to learn multiple products.

"I have tried several companies' software, but none have the breadth, depth and efficiency of Skyscape's Constellation suite. I was looking for an all-in-one solution, and with Constellation, I found it. Now I can do quick literature searches, develop differentials, cost-effectively run tests, and check drug interactions," said Dr. Ira Halperin, Internist for OSF, Clinical Assistant Professor for University of Illinois at Chicago.

All of Skyscape's Constellation suites come with the most popular references and decision-making tools for each specialty or practitioner and can be further customized by the user. In addition to the core content for a particular specialty, each Constellation suite has a collection of add-on references that are available at a discount when purchased with the Constellation suite.

"Integrated medical references and decision-making tools are key," said Dr. Steven Blumberg, Board Certified ObGyn, Cape Cod Hospital. "During a recent flight when a passenger suddenly became ill, I was able to confirm that his symptoms were secondary to an overdose of his cardiac medications through the information supplied in Drug Guide for Physicians and then I was able to review and confirm the proper care through the information found in the 5-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult."

The initial Constellation suites are:

-- Anesthesiology Constellation Suite-- An integrated suite of the top references and decision-making tools for anesthesiologists.

-- Cardiology Constellation Suite-- Cardiologists and other cardiology specialists in need of gold-standard references and decision-making tools at the point-of-care can select this suite of titles.

-- Emergency Medicine Constellation Suite--Emergency medical practitioners and other personnel who deal with emergency situations can obtain the integrated suite of the best-selling references and decision-making tools for their field.

-- Nursing Constellation Suite--This is a comprehensive collection of the top titles and decision-making tools for registered nurses and nurse practitioners.

-- Pediatric Constellation Suite--Pediatricians and other pediatric specialists who select this suite will receive the most popular pediatric references and decision-making tools.

Stop Smoking



Stop Smoking - Break the Chains is a free ebook by Mark Jordan.
Mark describes himself and his book thus:

Mark Jordan, an addiction specialist of 16 years, invites you to stop smoking and to break the chains forever.
"This amazing totally free tutorial gives you easy to follow guidelines and a set of tasks that ensures you will break free from your nicotine addiction."

The text was uploaded to Memoware.com supposedly in Palm and PPC format but I could not download it so I guess the file was corrupt. I did manage to download the text from Mark Jordan's website in Word format. For your convenience, I have converted it and you can download the same in Palm Doc format. It's a small file and something you could easily beam to your patient's Palm :)

Lecture notes

Medical students find PDAs useful for looking up references. How many use their PDAs to take lecture notes?
I always thought a PDA with a portable keyboard would make an excellent lecture note-taking tool. Far better than a notebook since with the latter you don't have the battery power to last the whole day unless you are fortunate enough to find a power plug. Moreover the Palm + PPK combo is extremely portable.



Now LectureMate 1.0 has been recently released by Cyberling Technologies Inc. With this, you can "Jot down class / lecture notes, assignments, sketches, and reference details with LectureMate. Use built-in themes to create cool, clean note reports in HTML from raw PDA notes". I think the conduit to the Windows desktop program to create professional themed documents from your PDA notes is brilliant.

The features:

-Generate themed documents from raw handheld note data
-Create and share your own note themes
-Mark assignments completed as you do them
-Create Notes, Assignments, References and Sketches
-Quick view window means you don't have to open notes to quickly find what you're looking for



The benefits:
-Organize your notes as time stamped reports by course and class
-Simple, intuitive, high quality recording/reporting tool
-Included Desktop software let's you create professional notes in seconds
-Record assignment dates and integrate them with your built-in ToDo database
-Always have your class notes with you for quick reference
-Share notes with other students via automatically generated report e-mails

Well, if you are a Med student and still hesitating to get a PDA - what are you waiting for?

Ramp it up

Mobile Health Data reports:

Country Estates of Agawam, Mass., will use mobile health software from New York-based HealthRamp. The long-term care facility, an affiliate of Commonwealth Communities of Stoughton, Massachusetts, will implement the software, dubbed CareGiver, for a three-month trial.
The technology is designed to enable physicians to place orders for medications, treatments, results and supplies from a smart phone or PDA running the Palm OS or Windows Mobile operating system. Commonwealth plans to implement CareGiver in 11 of its other long-term care facilities if it's satisfied with the results of the three-month trial. The organization has worked with the vendor to develop specifications and other product extensions for the software.

Java medical apps?

Now that palmOne has released a new version of its ARM-processor-optimized Java runtime, it might be time to explore what medical apps are available for this platform.
It's not a big download but one needs 3MB Ram free - thank goodness for the 64MB in my T3.
Midlet.org has a few medical applications. Not much there but at least it is a beginning. The ability to download and run apps on one's Palm sounds like a great idea.



Some like this MIDP Dicom Viewer look intruiging. I haven't explored the world of Dicom medical imaging though so I can't say much.

The description for this applet says:
MIDP Dicom viewer is a tool for medical professionals for viewing and editing of DICOM medical images. A great tool for the doctor on the move.