What's New

March 28, 2004

 
Another Cardiology Clinical Trials Database

CARDx is an extensive database of over 200 clinical trials encompassing virtually every clinical disorder in cardiology - from atrial fibrillation to ventricular tachycardia, and everything in between: acute coronary syndromes, congestive heart failure, hypertension, and more.

CARDx contains detailed information about study design, treatment, results, and references, and is fully searchable by disease category, therapy used, or study acronym. CARDx's concise, informative summaries include:

• Trial Acronyms & Titles
  
• Study Purpose
  
• Trial Design
  
• Treatment Regimens
  
• Results and Conclusions
  
• Number Needed to Treat
  
• Original References

When new landmark trials are published, they will be added to the existing database and made available for downloading at no additional charge.

CARDx requires Palm OS 3.1 and 500K of available RAM.


posted by Kent 11:38 AM | |

March 26, 2004

 
PEPID Clinical Rotation Companion

PEPID CRC, Clinical Rotation Companion is the perfect companion for clinical rotations. PEPID CRC contains almost all of the clinical content found in PEPID ED and PEPID PRIMARY CARE PLUS. Over 1700 diseases and clinical situations are covered under its medical specialty. Each medical topic contains diagnosis, pathophysiology and treatment information in a quickly assimilated format. More than 3700 drugs, over-the-counter and herbal monographs, with built-in dosing calculators, provide instant access to critical information. Superb navigation gets you to a diagnosis or H&P for a specific specialty in literally seconds.

A unique feature to PEPID CRC is the Basics section, which includes topics such as Student Wellness, The Team, Admits to the Hospital, Cross Cover Protocols, Medicolegal issues and much more! Quickly reference how to write SOAP notes, admit and discharge orders, and step by step instructions on obtaining a thorough history and physical on a patient. The Medical Decision Making section is an excellent reference for medical, PA and NP students, as well as for residents.

PEPID CRC also contains the acclaimed PEPID Toxicology Section as well as the Nuclear Biological and Chemical Weapons of Mass Destruction for a complete medical reference that can provide critical information in today's tense situations.

The PEPID CRC Suite combines "PEPID CRC" with "PEPID Portable Drug Companion", "Medical Calculators" and the "Drug Interactions Generator". PEPID subscribers receive free updates, which provide you with the most current and up-to-date medical treatments and drug information available. Updates are synchronized or downloaded from the PEPID web site.


posted by Kent 10:31 PM | |

March 24, 2004

 
Medical Student PDA Use Varies

Though some medical residency programs have begun requiring the use of PDAs, many students still are learning how and when to use the mobile hardware, contends Lauren Oshman, M.D., national president of the American Medical Student Association. Oshman spoke with Mobile Health Data during the Reston, Va.-based association's 54th Annual Convention, held last week in Kansas City, Mo.

"We've had I.T. programs at our convention for the past two years. Since PDAs have become so important to medical education, we are stepping forward to help educate students on how to use them," she said. "There's been a recent increase in hand-held medical software for students and a burgeoning number of devices being thrown their way."

Hand-helds are a great way for medical students to get information at the point of care, Oshman says. However, there are some hurdles to increased PDA use, she contends.

For example, some tech-savvy students who already have been using PDAs have been discouraged by some teachers, who perceive using PDAs for reference as a sign of weakness, Oshman says. Other instructors simply prefer students to learn directly from medical textbooks.

Another hurdle many medical students face with mobile medicine is cost. Hand-held hardware and software often is too pricey for many budget-conscious medical students, Oshman argues. While some medical schools are requiring the use of PDAs, they often also require students to foot the bill. Consequently, AMSA is working with various mobile hardware and software vendors to enable students to receive such technologies for free or at a significantly reduced rate.

Additionally, just like many established physicians, some medical students also are shying away from mobile technology, Oshman contends.

"There are just as many medical students that are tech-savvy as there are technophobic," she says. "And it's difficult for those students that aren't tech-savvy to maximize what they can really do on PDAs."

Source: Mobile Health Data
posted by Kent 7:22 PM | |

 
PalmOne Extends Free PDA Offer

palmOne has extended its volume rewards program for health care organizations. The PDA vendor's Healthcare Purchase Promotion, which began Sept. 1, 2003, now will end Aug. 29.

The program offers health care organizations a set number of free PDAs based on the total purchased. Organizations that purchase 30 Palm hand-helds will receive three additional PDAs free. Those that purchase 100 hand-helds will receive 12 free. And those that purchase 500 will receive 72 free.

Through the offer, health care organizations can purchase palmOne's Tungsten T3, E, C and Zire 71 and 21 hand-helds. To receive the free hand-helds, organizations must send a copy of the invoice for their volume purchase and a completed promotion claim form to the vendor.

Health care organizations eligible to use the purchase program include hospitals, pharmacies, group practices, medical laboratories, and clinical trials, pharmaceuticals and health care procurement companies.

Executives at palmOne declined to reveal the number of organizations that have taken part in the program or how many free PDAs have been distributed via the program.

Source: Mobile Health Data
posted by Kent 7:21 PM | |

 
Skyscape Provides Best Drug Interaction Software for PDAs

Skyscape has announced that a recently released study in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacists found that Skyscape-powered references were the best drug interaction software available for PDAs.

The independent study evaluated nine drug interaction software programs for handheld computers from seven companies, including Skyscape and ePocrates. The study rated them based on their ease-of-use, comprehensiveness and accuracy. Skyscape-powered iFacts (Facts & Comparisons' Drug Interaction Facts) was recognized as the best software program overall and received a perfect score in terms of comprehensiveness and a ranking of 390 out of 400 for accuracy, which was the highest ranking for accuracy.

By comparison, five of the nine references reviewed received a comprehensiveness score of 100 or less out of 200, with a popular free drug interaction reference receiving only 50 out of 200 points for its comprehensiveness.

Two of Skyscape’s references, Mosby’s Drug Consult and iFacts, were ranked first and second in terms of ease-of-use. The February 2004 study stated that, "The exceptionally easy-to-use interface of Mosby’s Drug Consult software and iFacts (both by Skyscape) proved fastest in determining management of relevant interactions."
posted by Kent 7:10 PM | |

March 18, 2004

 
Updated: Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult, 2004

The 5-Minute Clinical Consult 2004 is a comprehensive and structured clinical resource for handheld devices, and is one of the most respected sources of information for medical disorders. It covers more than 1,000 medical/surgical conditions and is indexed with more than 7,500 terms and medications to help clinicians locate the desired information quickly.

Features include:

• Fully customizable by allowing users to add notes and create new personal topics
  
• Provides more than 85% of updated topics
  
• New topics detail SARS and Zygomycosis
  
• New treatments and medications to reflect newly released drugs
  
• An ICD-9-CM code index
  
• New insights from more than 330 experienced clinicians
  
• Coverage of each topic includes basics, diagnosis, treatment, medications, follow-up, and miscellaneous considerations

With Skyscape's patented smARTlink technology, 5MCC4 can easily cross-index with other titles from Skyscape to provide a powerful and integrated source of clinical information that you can carry with you anytime and anywhere!
posted by Kent 9:30 PM | |

March 15, 2004

 
A Cure for Doctors' Scrawl?

Communication is precious to Bruce Hansen, a physician's assistant who is deaf in his left ear and has 35 percent hearing loss in his right.

In Hansen's view, the traditional way doctors, nurses and physician assistants interact with patients and record their observations is fraught with inefficiency and room for error.

At hospital shift changes, much of the information is communicated orally, with the newcomer subjectively choosing what to write down. Compound that potentially incomplete process with the infamously inscrutable handwriting of medical personnel and problems inevitably arise, said Hansen.

"There's no business in the world that operates like that," said Hansen, who lives in Cape Elizabeth.

For the past four years, he's been developing a database software system for personal digital assistants that streamlines the recording of patient examinations. It replaces jottings and scrawl with an intuitive and easy-to-use electronic format.

He hopes the platform will be useful to any medical employee, helping them make the best use of their increasingly limited time. The software is being tested for durability, and Hansen believes it will soon be on the market.

"The UPS man is doing it; why isn't medicine doing it?" said Hansen.

The platform, named pdachart, already has proved to be a boon for Hansen professionally and personally.

Click here for the full story.

Source: Portland Press Herald
posted by Kent 9:44 AM | |

March 14, 2004

 
News from the Front: ICDMeister

I've been a long-time CodeMeister fan, and until recently had never found a handheld coding reference that was easier and faster to use in the midst of a busy office day. However, CodeMeister doesn't contain every code out there, so I'd occasionally be forced to use another reference (usually the clunky "official" ICD-9 coding manual).

Enter ICDMeister. I've been using this since it was released a few days ago, and I have to say...this is what CodeMeister should've been all along! This thing is great! It's not only faster (in most cases) to find the common codes that I use every day (thanks to the groupings of "Most Common Dx" codes for each system), but since ICDMeister contains all 15,000+ ICD-9 codes, I haven't needed my ICD-9 coding manual since I started using it. Unlike the coding manual, which was organized by a beaurocrat, ICDMeister was organized by a physician, and it shows. I can typically find a code in four taps or less, even relatively obscure ones. If a code is truly elusive, or if you have a code that you need to decipher, you can use iSilo's built-in search function. However, I've found that because of the size of the document, this takes a loooong time on my old Palm m515. Maybe it's time to upgrade to an ARM-powered OS 5 device after all... ;-) Two thumbs up! If you do your own coding (and you should, if you know what's good for you), you owe it to yourself to give ICDMeister a try.
posted by Kent 9:25 AM | |

March 7, 2004

 
ClinTrials™ (ACCF Clinical Trials Database)

Are all those catchy cardiovascular trial acronyms making your head spin? There are so many clinical trials going on that it's sometimes hard to keep them all straight. This clinical practice support tool from the American College of Cardiology Foundation is designed to synthesize current cardiovascular research findings for busy physicians and healthcare professionals. Study results are gathered by a prominent editorial team from a variety of peer-reviewed publications and professional meetings. Updated monthly, this PDA application was developed by the ACCF to bring these important trial results to you, when you need them, where you need them.

With Skyscape’s patented smARTlink™ technology, ACCF ClinTrials™ can easily cross-index with other ACCF clinical practice support titles and additional reference titles by Skyscape to provide a powerful and integrated source of clinical information that you can carry with you wherever you go!
posted by Kent 9:13 AM | |

March 6, 2004

 
ACC Constellation

No, it's not our newest aircraft carrier. This clinical practice support tool from the American College of Cardiology Foundation provides a concise, portable reference tool for the busy clinician. Pocket Guideline material is adapted and enhanced for the PDA from the full text version of ACC/AHA Practice Guidelines.

This ACC Constellation provides you with the full set of Pocket Guidelines including:

• Management of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation
  
• Clinical Application of Echocardiography
  
• Evaluation and Management of Chronic Heart Failure in the Adult
  
• Implantation of Cardiac Pacemakers and Antiarrhythmia Devices
  
• Perioperative Cardiovascular Evaluation for Noncardiac Surgery
  
• Management of Patients With Chronic Stable Angina
  
• Management of Patients With Unstable Angina and Non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction
  
• Management of Patients With Valvular Heart Disease

With Skyscape's patented smARTlink™ technology, the ACC Constellation can easily cross-index with other ACC clinical practice support titles and additional reference titles by Skyscape to provide a powerful and integrated source of clinical information that you can carry with you wherever you go!
posted by Kent 8:25 AM | |

March 5, 2004

 
New Files on the Medical iSilo Depot

Andy Schechtman has added over thirty new iSilo files to the Medical iSilo Depot.
posted by Kent 6:51 PM | |

 
New Services Available from MeisterMed

MeisterMed can now help you publish your medical references in PDA format!

Do you have a medical reference that you'd like to convert for use on a PDA? Let MeisterMed help you convert your work into an easy-to-use, hyperlinked PDA format. Click here for more details.

Who's on call tonight? Let MeisterMed help you keep everyone in your organization on the same page by setting up a customized data dissemination system for your PDAs.

Call schedules. Contact lists. Patient information. Community resources. Drug formulary changes. Things change quickly and it's hard to make sure everyone has the most up-to-date information. What if you could make sure everyone always had the most current information from your organization in their PDA. Now you can. Let MeisterMed help you create a customized data dissemination system. Keep everyone in your organization, whether four people or four thousand, up-to-date with all the most recent news, references, and important information from your organization. Click here for more details.
posted by Kent 11:49 AM | |

 
ICDMeister Released

Finally it's here. ICDMeister is a coding reference including all 15,000+ ICD-9 codes making it the perfect coding reference for both primary care practices and specialty practices.

ICDMeister is not just a list of codes. Added features make it easy to find exactly the code you need in seconds. Most Common Diagnoses lists in every section bring 95% of the codes you're looking for within four quick clicks. The Abbreviations and Shortcuts Index is another way to quickly find your code. AGE? STD? Cdiff? FTT? TOA? ARDS? The Abbreviations Index quickly links you from the common medical acronym to the code you need. Using the built in Search tool helps you find rare and common diagnoses quickly. Need the code for Sequoiosis (a type of allergic alveolitis)?  Enter "sequo" in the search screen and find it in 2 seconds. Fibroids?  Enter "fibroid" and instantly get to the four codes for fibroids.

So, is ICDMeister is the best ICD-9 coding tool available for the PDA? Try all the other ones out there first and see for yourself.
posted by Kent 11:43 AM | |

 
PapMeister Now Available

The latest free medical reference from MeisterMed is now available for download. PapMeister includes everything you need to know on cervical cancer screening, the management of abnormal Pap smears, and cervical cancer. It details the current recommendations from the American Cancer Society, the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. It compares new techniques for cervical cancer screening such as liquid-based cytology (ThinPrep®) to conventional cytology and details the role of HPV testing in both screening and follow-up of abnormal cytology. PapMeister gives clear recommendations based on current guidelines for the management of abnormal Pap smears and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) diagnosed on biopsy. Finally, PapMeister includes information on the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of cervical cancer. PapMeister was peer-reviewed by eighteen family physicians and obstetrician/gynecologists.
posted by Kent 11:41 AM | |

March 2, 2004

 
Mobile MerckMedicus

For medical professionals on the go, Mobile MerckMedicus offers a variety of medical knowledge in the palm of your hand. Mobile MerckMedicus is offered in two versions. Mobile MerckMedicus Lite contains fewer resources and requires less memory on your PDA. Memory cards are supported.

Mobile MerckMedicus includes:

• The Merck Manual, 17th Edition
  
• Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests
  
• Reuters Medical News
  
• MerckMedicus & MEDLINE Search

Mobile MerckMedicus Lite includes:

• Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests
  
• Reuters Medical News
  
• MEDLINE Journal Abstracts
  
• MerckMedicus & MEDLINE Search

Available for Palm OS 3.x or higher, Mobile MerckMedicus requires 7.1MB of RAM; Mobile MerckMedicus Lite requires 0.3MB.

Both versions are freeware (with free registration). Unfortunately, the download is provided in a Windows-only .exe format. Two thumbs down from Mac users, guys.
posted by Kent 11:23 PM | |

March 1, 2004

 
New Tool for Community Acquired Pneumonia

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) today announced its first clinical decision-support tool for personal digital assistants (PDAs) that is designed to help clinicians deliver evidence-based medicine at the point of care. AHRQ's new Pneumonia Severity Index Calculator is an interactive application for Palm OS and other PDAs to help doctors quickly and easily determine whether patients with community-acquired pneumonia should be treated at home or in a hospital.

Developed by MDpda Design, Inc., the Pneumonia Severity Index Calculator is based on a clinical algorithm produced in 1997 by the AHRQ-funded multidisciplinary research team called the Pneumonia Patient Outcomes Research Team or PORT. The Pneumonia PORT developed and tested the Pneumonia Severity Index clinical algorithm to aid clinicians in treatment decisions for patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

AHRQ PDA applications are available for download at http://pda.ahrq.gov. The AHRQ Pneumonia Severity Index Calculator is available in Palm OS, Pocket PC and HTML formats. Additional AHRQ PDA applications are under development.
posted by Kent 9:19 PM | |

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