What's New

December 31, 2001

 
In case anyone is interested, I bought a new PDA recently...a Palm m505! For any of you who follow the discussion forums on PDAMD.com, you may recall that I purchased one of these last May shortly after they first became available, only to return it a couple of days later after finding that none of my medical applications would run from the expansion slot, not to mention being less than thrilled by the relatively dim color screen. But what about the HandEra 330, you ask? Didn't I just say, not a month and a half ago, that the HandEra 330 would be my first choice if I upgraded? Well, there's no question that the HandEra 330 has a lot to offer medical users. However, it's essentially the same size and weight as my trusty TRGpro, and while the feature set is compelling, I was really starting to resent the TRGpro's bulk now that I no longer wear a lab coat at work every day. These days, my handheld tends to reside either in my shirt pocket or my front pants pocket, and the TRGpro is just a little too big to do this comfortably day in and day out. So, I was again won over by the Palm m505's slim form factor, and have managed to overcome my initial objection to the screen by using Palm's backlight utility, which enables the m505 to "remember" the last backlight setting. With the backlight turned on, the m505's screen is actually quite nice, even if the batteries do run down a bit faster. Finally, since both iSilo and my Skyscape applications now work with the expansion card, I'm able to essentially duplicate the functionality of my TRGpro with AutoCF. The downside is that I now have to buy all of my accessories over again, since the m505 uses the new "universal" connector. The HandEra 330 would have at least allowed me to continue using all of my old peripherals, although in the end that wasn't enough of a reason for me to stick with the Palm III form factor. I've been using the m505 for almost a week now, and am very pleased with it. I can't say that I'd recommend it to everyone, since any PDA involves certain compromises, but if you value portability and expandability, the m505 is hard to beat. Plus, you can carry around color pictures of the family to show everyone, and did I mention that games look much better in color? ;-)
posted by Kent 5:59 PM | |

 
This news page is starting to look like a Skyscape press release! Check out their latest title, the 5-Minute Sports Medicine Consult. In addition to common medical and surgical problems, you'll also find guides for pre-participation examinations, commonly used and abused drugs, protective equipment, and taping and bracing.
posted by Kent 2:06 PM | |

December 21, 2001

 
Skyscape continues to crank out new titles. Just released: Pocket OB/Gyn, containing all the essentials that students and interns need for daily rounds, including normal and complicated obstetrics, gynecology, gynecologic oncology, ultrasound, and infertility.

If you're interested in yet another general-purpose medical quick-reference guide, check out Pocket Medicine, prepared by residents and attendings at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. You get key points on the most common problems seen in each of the basic areas of internal medicine: cardiology, pulmonary, gastroenterology, nephrology, hematology-oncology, infectious diseases, endocrinology, and rheumatology.
posted by Kent 9:22 PM | |

December 19, 2001

 
Three new releases from Skyscape are here (are these guys prolific, or what?) As promised earlier, the popular Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics is now available, as well as a brand-new title, the Five-Minute Infectious Disease Consult. With the addition of this new title, Palm users now have four ID references to choose from. Skyscape has also announced Primary Care Medicine Recommendations, a portable decision-support tool that provides detailed specific recommendations for the screening, workup, and management of more than 200 unique clinical problems seen in the outpatient setting. I haven't tried this one yet, but it sounds interesting. Keep 'em coming, guys!
posted by Kent 6:20 PM | |

December 18, 2001

 
My favorite patient tracking application, WardWatch, has just been updated. The latest version (ver. 2.5) features a significantly improved user interface, a "PatientInfo" popup for fast access to crucial patient information on patient screens, password protection of patient records (very important if you're concerned about HIPAA and don't want to hassle with having to password-protect your entire Palm), the ability to delete entire categories of patient records, context specific autofill for event types, and improved data entry and patient sorting. What's more, WardWatch is on sale for only $19.95 through the end of January, 2002, and upgrades are free for registered users. Although I don't use this program as much as I did during my residency (I no longer do inpatient medicine), it remains the best "scut" and "to-do" manager that I've seen. Highly recommended!
posted by Kent 6:23 PM | |

December 9, 2001

 
As seen on the television show "E.R.", PEPID, the recently-renamed Portable Emergency and Primary Care Information Database isn't just for emergancy physicians anymore. PEPID is a medical reference and drug information source all in one, and includes chapters covering general emergency medicine, trauma, pediatrics, orthopedics, toxicology, and pharmacology. If you're interested in trying it out, be sure to download the free sections on toxicology and nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons here. PEPID runs under iSilo.
posted by Kent 12:52 AM | |

 
A new version of the Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics (30th ed.) is coming soon from Skyscape. It's been pre-announced on a few sites, but doesn't appear to be available from the Skyscape Web site just yet. It's scheduled to be released "officially" on December 19th. Although the Washington Manual has been available for Palm OS handhelds for quite some time from Franklin, this new version will include some enhancements which promise to significantly enhance readability and comprehension through the use of highlighting, color, bold text and embedded hyperlinks.
posted by Kent 12:23 AM | |

December 8, 2001

 
Skyscape has announced two new titles. The AHA Clinical Cardiac Consult features information from the American Heart Association on general approaches to cardiac problems, specific diseases, common syndromes and chief complaints. The 5-Minute Orthopaedic Consult is a well-structured quick reference for the diagnosis and treatment of orthopaedic conditions. These titles join the ever-popular 5-Minute Clinical Consult and related pediatric and emergency medicine titles, and represent some of the best clinical reference sources available for handheld devices.
posted by Kent 11:23 PM | |

December 6, 2001

 
This could be the best deal available in handhelds right now. HandEra is selling refurbished TRGpros for only $99.99 for a limited time. These normally retail for $249.99, and feature 8MB of RAM, 2MB of flash ROM, an industry-standard compact flash (CF) slot, and a built-in speaker capable of playing WAV files and reproducing DTMF (touch-tone phone) tones for automatic dialing. TRG's AutoCF extension allows you to run many programs from the expansion slot as if they resided in main memory. The TRGpro also includes a Palm III-style serial port, which makes it compatible with hundreds of accessories. If you've been wishing you had an expandable Palm OS handheld but are on a tight budget, this may be just the thing.
posted by Kent 7:19 PM | |

December 2, 2001

 
If you're a radiologist, radiologist-in-training, or any physician who has to interpret radiographs, take a look at PocketRadiologist, a new breed of diagnostic imaging resources from Amirsys Inc. and W.B. Saunders. Each title in the series provides you with the 100 most important diagnoses in a particular radiologic specialty, including images! For more info, take the online guided tour.
posted by Kent 10:20 PM | |

 
Carl Weber, a fellow alumnus of Eastern Virginia Medical School, has developed an extensive medical reference library entitled the Clinical Medicine Consult (not to be confused with the Five-Minute Clinical Consult). The full series covers 23 separate subspecialties, and each subsection is available individually for users who prefer to design their own streamlined reference. The Clinical Medicine Consult is fully indexed and hyperlinked for use with iSilo, and includes over 200 line drawing illustrations. A free demo is available, and the purchase price includes free updates for one year.
posted by Kent 8:36 PM | |

 
Michael Hutchens' venerable PregCalc Pro, one of the pioneering Palm OS medical applications, was recently acquired by Medical Toolbox, (formerly Workingpalm.com) which also markets stat-tracking programs for OB/Gyn and anesthesiology. With version 4.1, Windows users can take advantage of the PregCalc Pro desktop application, which features full two-way synchronization with the handheld program as well as printing. A free demo is available.

Another excellent pregnancy tracking application, PregTrak, was recently updated to version 4.0. PregTrak was the first program of its kind to feature a desktop application, and many users may prefer its simpler layout and ease of use. There's also a free demo version of PregTrak available.
posted by Kent 8:14 PM | |

December 1, 2001

 
With the release of the long-awaited Sanford Guide, Palm OS users now have three (count 'em!) well-done commercial infectious disease references to choose from. The Sanford Guide is the only one of the bunch that you have to pay for, and Sanford is hoping that user familiarity and the strength of their reputation will convince folks to ante up $25 (more than three times the cost of the paper book, unless you usually get it free from a drug rep like most of us do). Unfortunately, there's no trial version available, but they have provided several screen shots on their Web site that give you a flavor for how the program works. Early feedback has been mixed, but it appears that lots of folks enjoy having this resource available on their Palm devices, even though the small screen prevents many of the paper Sanford Guide's tables from being reproduced effectively in electronic form. I haven't tried it myself yet, as I'm still happy with the freeware alternatives, namely ePocrates qID, which integrates nicely with their popular companion drug reference ePocrates qRX, and The Johns Hopkins Antibiotic Guide. Even if you can't quite bring yourself to trust the data in ePocrates qID (although it seems accurate enough as far as I can tell), it's hard to argue with an academic powerhouse like Hopkins. Since these two apps are free, try them out first to see if you like them. If not, maybe the Sanford Guide will be worth the cost. The real test will be to see which of these programs does a better job of keeping up with changes in therapeutic recommendations over time. Paper guides have always been slightly obsolete even when they're brand new, but electronic references, particularly if they offer some form of auto-update like ePocrates qRx (unfortunately, qID doesn't have this capability yet) have the potential to outperform paper-based references in this critical area.
posted by Kent 9:20 AM | |

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