What's New

October 30, 2003

 
Red Book for PDAs

Skyscape today announced an agreement with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to bring the 26th Edition of the Red Book, the authoritative guide to pediatric infections diseases, to medical professionals on their PDAs. By working with Skyscape, the AAP translates its reference text, with 100 images, to an easy-to-navigate handheld format and ensures that the Red Book integrates with other powered by Skyscape reference works for its over 57,000 members.

Continuing a 65-year tradition of excellence, the 2003 Red Book provides today’s most reliable and clinically useful information on the manifestations, etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of some 200 childhood infectious diseases. The 2003 edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to help pediatricians stay in step with the latest developments and recommendations. It has been expanded with a wealth of new clinical content in key areas like active and passive immunization, care of children in special circumstances, and management of specific conditions such as anthrax, smallpox, influenza, pneumococcal infections, and much more.

The Red Book will sell for $99.95, and will be available on multiple platforms, including Palm OS, Windows CE and Pocket PC.
posted by Kent 9:01 AM | |

October 29, 2003

 
How to Choose PDA Software

Here's a nice concise article in the most recent Medical Economics which discusses how to choose from among the various medical applications available for PDAs. It's short and to the point, but may be useful for newcomers.
posted by Kent 9:46 PM | |

October 27, 2003

 
Provider Integrates, Mobilizes Apps

Christus Health, a Corpus Christi, Texas-based delivery system, has chosen mobile applications from Boston-based PatientKeeper, Inc. The vendor's software integrates and mobilizes Christus Health's existing clinical and financial information systems.

The delivery system is using PatientKeeper applications to offer physicians mobile access to patient data, such as test results, dictated notes and other clinical information. It also is using the software to offer the doctors mobile access to billing systems in an effort to improve its revenue cycle.

PatientKeeper also signed contracts for its mobile software with eight other health care organizations during the third quarter; likewise, it has established partnerships with other vendors in efforts to help mobilize those vendors' applications.
posted by Kent 5:29 PM | |

 
Novant Selects Point-of-care Software

Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Healthcare has chosen a point-of-care documentation system for PDAs from Atlanta-based pMDsoft. Nearly 600 physicians at the seven-hospital delivery system will use the software to chart physical findings and patient diagnoses from PDAs at the point of care.

The system is designed to integrate with its administrative systems to offer quicker and more accurate billing. Novant Health anticipates the system will help transition it to electronic billing. It also hopes the software will enable it to expand services without adding administrative staff.
posted by Kent 5:27 PM | |

 
Skyscape Urges Docs to Change Channels

Skyscape has introduced a service designed to give providers PDA access to various "channels" of medical information. The vendor's ARTbeat application disseminates medical newsletters, journals and drug alerts to physicians via hand-held devices.

The initial free ARTbeat channels include: MedWatch, the Food & Drug Administration's Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program; CDC Spotlights, a weekly update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Connections, which offers general medical information. Other channels that are available via annual subscription include Drug News Weekly and DrugLink. Skyscape plans to add complimentary and subscription channels in the future.

Provider organizations also can use ARTbeat to disseminate their own information to physicians, including workflow guidelines and best practices. The application's pricing is based on the frequency and type of channel updates desired by an organization. Physicians can download the basic ARTbeat application for free at www.skyscape.com.
posted by Kent 5:17 PM | |

October 25, 2003

 
MedCalc Updated

Mathias Tschopp's freeware gem, MedCalc, has been updated. Version 4.4 adds dynamic input area and landscape support on compatible devices, such as the Palm Tungsten T3.
posted by Kent 7:51 AM | |

October 24, 2003

 
Provider Integrates, Mobilizes Apps

Christus Health, a Corpus Christi, Texas-based delivery system, has chosen mobile applications from Boston-based PatientKeeper Inc. The vendor's software integrates and mobilizes Christus Health's existing clinical and financial information systems.

The delivery system is using PatientKeeper applications to offer physicians mobile access to patient data, such as test results, dictated notes and other clinical information. It also is using the software to offer the doctors mobile access to billing systems in an effort to improve its revenue cycle.

PatientKeeper also signed contracts for its mobile software with eight other health care organizations during the third quarter; likewise, it has established partnerships with other vendors in efforts to help mobilize those vendors' applications.

For more information, go to www.patientkeeper.com.
posted by Kent 6:56 PM | |

October 23, 2003

 
Room for More Docs on Mobile Road

Although the number of physicians using clinical applications on mobile hardware is growing, the health care industry still faces many obstacles to increased use of such technology, according to a recent study by Spyglass Consulting. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based organization conducted more than 100 interviews with clinicians for the study, which began in June.

The study concluded that reference applications are the most popular mobile software among physicians. Many use resources such as medical calculators and access drug reference information on PDAs and Tablet PCs. The study also found that some organizations are testing mobile charge capture, patient data management and electronic prescribing applications.

Although all physicians surveyed said they want to use more mobile applications in the future, the study found various obstacles to enterprisewide adoption of the technology. These hurdles include cost, lack of system integration and infrastructure, and other higher I.T. priorities.

The study also identifies drivers for implementing mobile technology and early adopter organization as well as evaluates various vendor products. For more information, go to www.spyglass-consulting.com.
posted by Kent 10:12 PM | |

October 20, 2003

 
Handheld Usability

One of the things that has always impressed me about the Palm OS platform is how (relatively) easy it is to use. If you're interested in learning more about what Palm's designers already know, you might want to check out a new book entitled "Handheld Usability" by Scott Weiss. Dr. Mohammad Al-Ubaydli has a brief review of the book on his website, Handhelds for Doctors. You can pick up a copy at Amazon.
posted by Kent 6:04 PM | |

October 12, 2003

 
New Titles from PocketMedicine

PocketMedicine recently released several new original titles for handheld computers.

Chief Complaints in Internal Medicine is an extraordinarily useful program that provides guidance on the differential diagnosis of a full range of signs, symptoms, and laboratory findings.

The Manual of Anesthesia Practice, written by the faculty and staff of the Department of Anesthesia at UCSF, contains detailed sections on co-existing diseases, techniques, procedures, critical events, and drugs.

Checklist of Laboratory Interpretation answers such questions as: Consider These Possibilities; Don't Miss-Dangerous Situations; Commonly Encountered Situations; What to Get from the Lab; and Clinical Considerations.

These new titles advance PocketMedicine's goal to offer healthcare professionals authoritative works that meet their everyday needs in clinical practice.
posted by Kent 8:22 AM | |

October 11, 2003

 
Dr. Oh's PalmMed Page

Dr. Robert Oh, an F.P. at Madigan Army Medical Center, notified me that he has recently begun updating his Palm medical page after a two-year hiatus. On Dr. Oh's new page, you'll find information on how he uses his PDA, plus a nice table comparing various device models (including the latest handhelds from Palm). Definitely worth a look!
posted by Kent 9:34 AM | |

October 10, 2003

 
More Drug Interaction Checkers

In my earlier post regarding drug interaction checkers (August 29, 2003), I neglected to mention that Unbound Medicine sells two popular drug information packages that contain drug interaction technology together with content from Drug Interaction Facts (Facts and Comparisons). The programs will run from a memory card, and are auto-updated monthly in an incremental fashion (e.g., only new or changed information is downloaded, making updates quick) regardless of whether the application is installed in RAM or on a memory card.

Drug Facts - Gold: Instant access to drug-drug and drug-food interactions between thousands of brand and generic drugs, plus A to Z Drug Facts monographs. Includes free updates for one year.

Drug Facts - Platinum: The foremost source of current natural product information for health care professionals together with A to Z Drug Facts monographs and Drug Interaction checking. Includes free updates for one year.
posted by Kent 6:11 PM | |

 
New Peds References from Unbound Medicine

Unbound Medicine today announced that it has introduced six new PDA references on its mobile knowledge management platform, CogniQ. The CogniQ Pediatrics Series includes leading pediatrics publications from PocketMedicine combined with Unbound Medicine's unique literature management service, Unbound MEDLINE.
posted by Kent 5:59 PM | |

October 9, 2003

 
Palm Improves Security for Tungsten T3 Handheld

Palm Security 5.0p, a new free download from Palm, combines strong security and ease of use in one application. Features include data encryption, intrusion protection and faster password entry. Used together, these security measures create a formidable barrier to would-be intruders, and allow medical users to adhere to HIPAA privacy regulations without having to purchase expensive third-party security software. If you needed another reason to upgrade to the Tungsten T3, maybe this is it.
posted by Kent 9:01 AM | |

October 8, 2003

 
STAT A-Fib Stroke Risk

Andre Chen has announced beta testing of a new freeware Palm OS application, STAT A-Fib Stroke Risk, implementing a risk score for predicting stroke or death in individuals with new-onset atrial fibrillation in the community. This is based on an article in the August JAMA published by The Framingham Heart Study.

Beta test download site:
www.statcoder.com/a-fib_stroke.htm

From the JAMA editorial on this article:

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common clinical problem affecting an estimated 2.3 million adults in the US. Nearly 4% of persons aged 60 or older have AF. Prevention of ischemic stroke presents a major challenge as determining which patients with AF should receive oral anticoagulation is always a critical question. Often, patients with clear indications for anticoagulation do not receive it.

Considering that accurate risk stratification is essential to identify patients who have the best chance of benefit from oral anticoagulant therapy, clinicians should find the Framingham risk scoring system a useful aid for clinical decisionmaking.


posted by Kent 8:50 AM | |

October 2, 2003

 
New Palms from Palm

Yesterday, Palm announced three new additions to its lineup, each intended for a different user.

The much-anticipated Tungsten T3 ($399) features 64MB of RAM (52MB available to the user), and a lightning-fast 400Mhz Intel XScale processor. The T3 is also the first Palm-branded device to offer a high-resolution screen with a virtual Graffiti area and a landscape mode, along with other improvements. You can read the first reviews of the Tungsten T3 at The Gadgeteer and PalmInfoCenter.

The Tungsten E ($199) appears to be aimed squarely at loyal Palm V and m5xx users, and offers a lot of bang for the buck. This affordable OS 5 device features a potent 126MHz TI OMAP processor and a reasonable amount of memory (32MB of RAM, with 28.3MB available to the user) and the same 320x320 resolution, 65,000 color display found in the Tungsten C and Zire 71.

The Zire 21 ($99) replaces the immensely popular original, but does not include an expansion slot. Instead, the Zire 21 squeaks by with 8MB of RAM (admittedly an improvement over the original Zire's paltry 2MB) and a faster processor. The display continues to be 4-bit grayscale, keeping the price low. Although the Zire 21 is intended for first-time PDA buyers, its memory at least makes it worth considering for medical users with modest requirements and a tight budget.
posted by Kent 6:28 PM | |

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