What's New

November 28, 2001

 
Skyscape has announced the Family Practice Edition of their popular Outlines in Clinical Medicine (OCM) reference. I'm not sure how this differs from the "original" version (I'm still using Five-Minute Clinical Consult myself), but it might be worth checking out for those of you in the market for a general-purpose primary care reference.
posted by Kent 7:21 PM | |

 
If you or your patients have questions about bioterrorism and biological warfare agents, get the answers in the palm of your hand! Download a free copy of the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) Medical Management of Biological Casualties Handbook (a.k.a. the "Blue Book"). The Palm OS version, available here, is formatted for iSilo.
posted by Kent 7:11 PM | |

November 20, 2001

 
Want to get your Palm OS device connected to the Internet for cheap? If you've already got a digital cellular phone, chances are you can by using an affordable adapter cable from SupplyNet. No modem is required. These data cables are available for the most popular phones including Audiovox, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sanyo, Nextel, LG Electronics, Qualcomm, Kyocera and many others. Then, download a copy of the free Eudora Internet Suite, and you'll be sending e-mail and browsing the wireless Web in no time. I've been using this setup with my TRGpro and Motorola StarTAC 7868 for several months. It works great!
posted by Kent 6:42 PM | |

November 19, 2001

 
Redi-Reference, a well-written, frequently-updated, and affordable series of Palm-based medical texts, has just been favorably reviewed in this week's Annals of Internal Medicine! An excerpt: "The Redi-Reference Clinical Guidelines Handbook is a powerful tool for bringing evidence-based medicine to the point of care. The portability of the PDA allows the user to review complicated treatment guidelines…anywhere. Many common inpatient and outpatient topics are covered, and most offer enough detailed evidence to improve physicians' practice." I use this one myself, and it's definitely a keeper. Check it out!
posted by Kent 6:35 PM | |

November 17, 2001

 
Despite being devoted to the "dark side" (Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system), www.medicalpocketpc.com is worth checking out even if you're a "simple" Palm OS user. The site is frequently updated, and features reviews of software that is often available for Palm OS devices as well as Pocket PC. Plus, it's a great place to start if you're curious as to what Pocket PC might have to offer (and no...I'm not thinking of switching, in case you were wondering...at least, not any time soon.)
posted by Kent 3:45 PM | |

November 14, 2001

 
For those of you contemplating the purchase of a new Palm OS-based PDA, check out this very helpful Buyer's Guide from Handheld Computing magazine (in Adobe PDF format). It's still pretty up-to-date, too, considering how fast the handheld industry is moving.

Also, I'm frequently asked what device I recommend. My usual answer is "it depends", but my current choice if I were to upgrade my trusty TRGpro would probably be the HandEra 330. I think it delivers a lot of bang for the buck, and it has a number of unique features that are very useful to medical types. Furthermore, my experience with TRG's (now HandEra's) customer support has been outstanding.
posted by Kent 6:55 PM | |

November 13, 2001

 
It looks like another free drug reference is on the way! According to an announcement on PDR.net, a new handheld application called mobilePDR will be released sometime this winter, promising drug look-up by brand or generic name, interactions between two or more drugs, and a "What's New" link to drug information updates and other critical information. Stay tuned!
posted by Kent 11:39 PM | |

November 11, 2001

 
Dr. Paul Marik has updated Current Medical Therapeutics, an iSilo file that provides up-to-date guidelines for the management of most acute medical problems. Check out his other titles here! Great stuff.
posted by Kent 1:11 PM | |

Visit the Archives for previous news items.