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December 21, 2004

 
Duke University Deploys ePocrates to Over 2,000 Students, Residents and Faculty

As part of its mobile computing initiative designed to put patient information and medical reference information in the hands of the caregivers at the point of care, Duke University Health System has reached a five-year agreement with ePocrates, Inc. to provide the ePocrates Rx Pro mobile drug reference guide to over 2,000 medical students, residents and faculty. Duke University Health System includes Duke Hospital, a top three-rated medical school according to U.S. News & World Report, Durham Regional Hospital, Duke Health Raleigh Hospital and a network of clinics.

"As we looked for an application to enhance our medical reference suite of applications, we turned to our residents, faculty, and medical students to determine not only what product they were currently using, but what product they would like to see adopted for use across the Health System," said Asif Ahmad, Vice President and Chief Information Officer of medical information systems at Duke University Health System.

"The mobile computing/PDA initiative has a focus on patient safety, improved patient care, and medical education. ePocrates was the application of choice among faculty, residents (physicians), and medical students, and other health care extenders," added Dr. Michael Russell, Associate CIO for Clinical Affairs, and an ePocrates user.

The ePocrates Rx Pro drug reference includes over 3,000 monographs including adult and pediatric dosing, contraindications and cautions and adverse reactions; an alternative medicine guide covering over 400 herbals; the MultiCheck function capable of checking up to 30 drugs simultaneously for interactions; health plan formulary coverage and retail prices; the ePocrates ID infectious disease treatment guide; and built-in dosing and medical calculators.

"ePocrates is pleased to be an integral part of Duke's mission to re-define health care through mobile technology. Now, students, residents and faculty alike can quickly access consistent, up-to-date information on medications, drug interactions and related topics, whether in the classroom or at the point-of-care," said Kirk Loevner, CEO, ePocrates, Inc.

Almost every medical student -- estimated at more than 60,000 -- is expected to use handheld computers or PDAs this year, according to Gartner Research, and already over half of medical students are using the ePocrates Rx or ePocrates Rx Pro drug reference applications. Additionally, every U.S. medical school, and over 200 residency programs participate in ePocrates' student discount program.
posted by Kent 8:56 AM | |

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