What's New

March 30, 2006

 
Clinical Allergy and Immunology

Pacific Primary Care has released Clinical Allergy and Immunology, a medical reference text with detailed step-by-step procedures, work-ups, treatment plans, medicines and differentials for a myriad of medical conditions.

Topics include: general immunology, immune deficiency, transplantations (lung, kidney, heart, bone marrow, pancreas liver), complete vaccination information, allergic disorders such as rhinitis, drug reactions, asthma, skin reactions, latex allergy, food allergies, anaphylaxis, urticaria and much more.

Edited by both adult and pediatric allergists.
posted by Kent 7:24 PM | |

 
Clinical Anesthesiology

USBMIS has gone to great lengths to produce a well-informed, consistently organized, and user-friendly application for your PDA. Clinical Anesthesiology is a succinct overview of the basic concepts and clinical considerations in the anesthetic management of patients, and is a must-have for any anesthesiologist or trainee in this specialty.
posted by Kent 7:18 PM | |

 
Doctors Use PDA to Treat Heart Patients

The device shown in the video is a Handspring Visor. The article isn't clear whether or not the technology relies on a SpringBoard module, or if it would work with other PDA models.

Congestive heart failure is the fastest-growing form of heart disease in the United States. Drugs can help, but many times patients don't know when they need them. Now, a new device being studied could put patients more in control.

Click here to read the entire article.
posted by Kent 7:15 PM | |

March 29, 2006

 
Upstate N.Y. Hospital Goes Mobile

Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, N.Y., will implement software to enable clinician access to patient data from PDAs in the facility and desktop computers at the office and home.

The 287-bed hospital will use the MData Mobile and MData Desktop software of MercuryMD Inc., Research Triangle Park, N.C. Contract terms were not disclosed.

Samaritan CIO Ed Ricks previously lead the information technology department at Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, N.C., which uses the vendor's software.

Source: Health Data Management
posted by Kent 8:38 PM | |

 
Health Service Needs More SMS

Just thought I'd post this. Shows how ubiquitous the mobile has become. If the smartphone reaches that kind of saturation, do you think they will text you your follow-up appointment too?

NHS Direct has backed research that highlights the benefits of mobile phone services in healthcare. The report, titled The Role of Mobile Phones in Increasing Accessibility and Efficiency in Healthcare, outlines benefits from mobile phones - notably through the use of text messaging - and suggests such services could be further developed by the NHS.

The report was commissioned by mobile phone operator Vodafone and the research carried out by Tanaka Business School in association with NHS Direct (the health service telephone and internet helpline), the University of Dundee, and the Office of Health Economics Consulting. NHS Direct medical director Dr Mike Sadler chaired the launch event on 24 March.

Key findings of the report include:

• Introducing SMS appointment reminders could save the NHS in England £240m to 370m per year.
• Using an SMS support system improves glucose levels in young people with diabetes by 10 percent. This can reduce diabetes related complications such as blindness by 76 percent and kidney disease by 50 percent.
• Tuberculosis patients could also benefit from SMS support systems. It could lead to a reduction in deaths and provide savings of up to £1.9m per 1,000 patients.
• Calls to NHS Direct by mobile are increasing four times faster than calls made through landlines, especially by people who were previously low users of NHS services.

Sadler commented: "NHS Direct has revolutionised patient access to the NHS and mobile is playing an important part in this. We know that the use of mobile in healthcare is acceptable to the public and the benefits are available now.

"However, it is under-utilised at present. This report brings together a number of different studies and shows how mobile offers genuine opportunities to address the challenges of healthcare in the 21st century."
posted by David 4:16 AM | |

March 28, 2006

 
mPod - MP3 Player for Treo

Okay, this isn't strictly medically-related. However, I thought it was cool enough to pass along.

MotionApps has just released an open beta of mPod, an MP3 player for the Treo featuring the easiest user interface available on a Palm OS device. Look familiar? ;-)

If Apple doesn't sue 'em, this could be a nice addition to your Treo.


posted by Kent 11:00 AM | |

 
St. Vincent's Deploys PatientKeeper in Just Two Weeks

St. Vincent's Medical Center, a major, 397-bed acute care hospital and a leading referral center for open-heart surgery, total joint replacement, and cancer serving Southwestern Connecticut and Westchester County, New York, and a member of Ascension Health, today announced it has deployed PatientKeeper's award-winning software to help physicians save time and enhance patient safety.

PatientKeeper allows physicians to access the complete medical records for their patients via PDAs, Smartphones, tablets, or any computer with a Web browser. The deployment, including integration with St. Vincent's IDX Carecast system, took just two weeks. Implementation began on March 10, and physicians began using the PatientKeeper software on March 24.

St. Vincent's joins over 15 hospitals that have already deployed PatientKeeper to their physicians since the first of the year. New PatientKeeper clients include physician practices, community hospitals, major academic medical centers, and large health systems. PatientKeeper has integrated to all major healthcare information systems, including Cerner, Eclypsis, Epic, GE Healthcare/IDX, McKesson, MEDITECH, QuadraMed, and Siemens, as well as many leading EMRs.
posted by Kent 10:12 AM | |

March 27, 2006

 
Blast From The Past

PalmInfocenter has a couple of neat posts in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Palm Pilot. One, entitled Pilot 1000 Retrospective, features detailed images of the handheld, original retail box, and packaging.

The second, entitled Happy 10th Anniversary Palm Computing, includes a chart of major Palm milestones, along with some mashed-up images of Palm devices over the past ten years. Palm also has some anniversary-related multimedia content on their site.

A fun read for those of us who have been using handhelds for that long.
posted by Kent 6:55 AM | |

March 26, 2006

 
Sunday Comics


posted by Kent 5:47 PM | |

March 22, 2006

 
Harriet Lane Handbook with New Tools for Point of Care Decision-Support

Skyscape Inc. has launched a completely updated mobile version of The Harriet Lane Handbook featuring exclusive, new interactive flowcharts, built-in medical calculators and integrated pediatric drug dosing tools.

For use on handheld PDAs and smart phones, the launch introduces "a truly unique version of The Harriet Lane Handbook that will become a new standard in point-of-care medical decision support tools for anyone who treats children," said Sandeep Shah, Skyscape Inc. founder and CEO.

For more than 50 years, The Harriet Lane Handbook has been the pediatrician's reference of choice, offering unsurpassed diagnostic and management guidance, recommended tests, and comprehensive therapeutic and drug formulary information. The new Skyscape version integrates a host of interactive tools that help ensure accurate and confident decision making at the point of care. These powerful new tools, available exclusively in the Skyscape version of the handbook, include:

• Nearly 600 built in weight-based drug dosing calculation tools. Users simply review a drug, calculate the dose and administer - all in a single step - with no need for a separate drug dosing program.
• New interactive flowcharts that transform complex algorithms and protocols from static images into dynamic step-by-step decision support tools. The innovative feature quickly and easily walks users through even the most intricate decision models.
• More than 100 full color images to illustrate and bring content to life
• Built-in medical calculators that provide instant access from within topics.
• Skyscape's patented smARTlink to easily cross-index handbook entries with any of Skyscape's other 300+ medical reference titles.

Dr. David C. Stockwell, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Children's National Medical Center, Washington DC, praised the new Skyscape solution for its "excellent drug calculator integrated with formulary, simple navigation, interactive algorithms/flow charts, good value and presentation of information."

Skyscape's Harriet Lane Handbook solution "could serve as an ID guide, drug reference, drug calculator, differential diagnosis guide, PALS guide, procedure manual and more," Dr. Stockwell said, having now achieved "its rightful place as the standard pediatric reference for the handheld. There is an excellent array of information and Skyscape's solution uses the handheld's capability better than any medical product (even outside of pediatrics) available."

"With Skyscape, practitioners are gaining exclusive access to the crucial resources pediatricians need to make better informed and timelier decisions at the point-of-care," Shah said. "Mobile technology is revolutionizing the medical field - enabling medical care professionals to provide better quality care for more patients while reducing the opportunity for errors."
posted by Kent 5:31 PM | |

March 20, 2006

 
USBMIS Sale of the Week Extended

Due to popular demand, US Biomedical Information Systems (USBMIS) has extended its previous Sale of the Week.

• Save 10% - Schwartz Principles of Surgery.
• Save 10% - Just the Facts in Emergency Medicine.
• Save 20% Off Each - Buy Schwartz Principles of Surgery and Just the Facts in Emergency Medicine and save BIG.

The extended sale ends on March 26, 2006.
posted by Kent 8:42 PM | |

 
500,000 Medical Professionals Rely on Skyscape

Skyscape Inc., the firm that pioneered in-context integrated medical references, has achieved an important new milestone by surpassing 500,000 registered medical professionals using its library of mobile medical decision support tools.

A half-million nurses, physicians and allied health professionals are using Skyscape solutions on PDAs, smart phones, Tablet PCs and desktop PCs for fast and accurate diagnosis, treatment and prescribing support at the point-of-care, or wherever decision support is required, said Sandeep Shah, Skyscape founder and CEO.

"New medical evidence and other breaking information is released so rapidly that medical professionals and students must use the latest technology to stay on top of the daily wave of new information which is so critical to them and their patients," Shah said.

While 1 in 2 physicians already use handhelds in their daily practice, Shah says their utilization - and the number of Skyscape users - will continue, driven by the growth of evidence-based medicine and electronic medical records - as well as increased wireless accessibility.

Recognizing the benefits, medical centers, such as Children's Hospital Boston, and educational institutions, such as Vanderbilt University, are deploying or otherwise supporting the use of handheld medical decision support software by their doctors, nurses, students and instructors.

"Individual practitioners and institutions alike are realizing the benefits that Skyscape technology can bring in terms of reduced medical errors and better care," Shah said.

A recent Skyscape survey of more than 2,800 medical professionals credited PDA-based decision support tools with helping them to provide better and more efficient patient care. A majority cited handheld tools as "critical" to their daily practice and reported that the decision support and reference solutions enabled them to reduce potential medical errors, provide more medical care and assist more patients.

"Today, medical professionals can be literally 'up to the minute' with information delivered anywhere they need it," Shah said. "Handheld PDAs, smart phones and tablet PCs are an ideal use of technology for providing instant mobile access to general and specialty reference titles, clinical and drug-dosing calculators, ICD-9 coding, treatment guidelines and other decision support solutions - all updateable via a desktop or wireless Internet connection."

Today, Skyscape offers more than 300 such decision support resources - the largest library available - covering over 30 medical specialties. Skyscape's patented smARTlink technology provides interlinked clinical content between its portfolio titles as well as with leading mobile medical computing solutions such as MedAptus, MercuryMD and PatientKeeper. Skyscape products are available for Palm OS and Windows Mobile/Pocket PC handheld PDAs and smart phones, and Windows desktops, laptops and Tablet PCs.
posted by Kent 7:22 PM | |

 
Internal Medicine On Call

Skyscape and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. are pleased to announce the new and exciting release of Internal Medicine On Call, 4th Ed. Special Mobile/Desktop Bundle.

A concise, portable reference that focuses on the evaluation and treatment of over 60 of the most common internal medicine on-call problems. Each on call section includes a presenting problem, immediate questions, differential diagnosis, laboratory and other diagnostic data, and treatment plan.
posted by Kent 8:10 AM | |

March 19, 2006

 
Psych. Hx. & Tx. Planner

Amit Kshetarpal has released a new psychiatry application. Psych. Hx. & Tx. Planner 1.2 features:

• Record psychiatric history
• Mental status examination with checkboxes
• Mini Mental Status Examination
• Treatment planner with help file
• Patient records
• Print to Memo Pad and edit on your PC
• Print from your handheld (PalmPrint required)

Shareware.


posted by Kent 8:48 AM | |

 
More Medical Schools Requiring PDAs

Brown recently joined a growing number of medical and nursing schools that require students to buy and use PDAs. Faculty and students say the technology saves time and helps them provide better care, in addition to reducing medical errors. Drug references and diagnostic programs can be stored on them, giving physicians information at their fingertips.

Click here to read the entire article.
posted by Kent 8:44 AM | |

 
Sunday Comics


posted by Kent 8:43 AM | |

March 17, 2006

 
PEPID Teams with the National Association of Emergency Medical Services Educators

PEPID LLC announced today a corporate partnering agreement with the National Association of Emergency Medical Services Educators (NAEMSE). The agreement is designed to leverage the expertise of both organizations to promote EMS education and provide enhanced decision-support tools for emergency workers in the field.

"It's critically important that emergency medical technicians and paramedics know that the information on the handhelds they count on in the field is always the best and latest," says PEPID President, John Wagner. "It is also essential for EMS personnel to know how to best use handheld information resources en route and on the scene of an event. PDA software is essential courseware in the classroom, as well as a vital tool in the field."

"NAEMSE will immediately begin a thorough review and update of our entire PEPID EMS product insuring that the latest guidelines and techniques for all personnel are reviewed and added as appropriate," adds Wagner. "The National Association of Emergency Medical Services Educators is one more significant relationship ensuring PEPID with the highest quality content and commendable peer review."

PEPID has similar relationships with the Family Physicians Inquiries Network, the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, the Oncology Nursing Society, and the American Society of Health System Pharmacists.
posted by Kent 6:35 PM | |

March 15, 2006

 
BMI & Obesity MedTool from Epocrates

Epocrates has just released a free BMI & Obesity MedTool for Palm OS. It has a very quick slider input for height and weight, calculates target weight and Basal Metabolic Rate. It also has the most recent criteria for pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery.

The tool is sponsored by the American College of Cardiology and was developed by me as a way of calculating BMI in a more rapid way, as well as answering the inevitable "How much should I weigh?" question in an objective manner.

Also, it's nice to have something to look down at while patients stare at you with an incredulous look their face. Feel free to shrug your shoulders and say, "This darn thing says you're obese." I do it all the time.

MedTools are accessed via Epocrates Rx by tapping the "black bag" icon.


posted by StatCoder.com 12:15 PM | |

March 14, 2006

 
Pulmonary Function and Vital Capacity Calculator

The Pulmonary Function and Vital Capacity Calculator provides computations of the predicted and percent predicted values for:

• Vital Capacity (VC)
• Forced Expiratory Volume after 1 second (FEV1)
• Maximum Exploratory Flow Rate (MEFR)
• Maximum Ventilatory Volume after 12 seconds (MVV12)
• Residual Volume (RV)
• Total Lung Capacity (TLC)
• Functional Residual Capacity (FRC)
• Forced Expiratory Flow from 25% to 75% (FEF)

This calculator also performs computations of body surface area (BSA) by either Dubois or Boyd formula, allowing your choice of the preferred method. If cardiac output (CO) is known, cardiac index (CI) may also be calculated. Data inputs are patient's height and weight, in either metric or English units, and if desired, the cardiac output. Shareware.


posted by Kent 9:31 AM | |

 
Billing App Fills in the Blanks

MDeverywhere has released an application within its EveryCharge hand-held charge capture software designed to enable practices to electronically add missing information, such as date of birth or insurance ID number.

The vendor's Console claims imaging and workflow system, within the EveryCharge software, reviews claims and sends missing information to a dashboard application. Practices access the Web-based dashboard via the EveryCharge application to fill in the missing information. The dashboard application sends the completed information back to the Console system, which sends the final charges to the practice's billing system.

The dashboard application is part of the vendor's Total Solution system, which includes a scheduling application and is designed to integrate with various billing systems. It can be used on PDAs running the Palm OS operating system.

Source: Health Data Management
posted by Kent 9:26 AM | |

March 13, 2006

 
USBMIS Sale of the Week

US Biomedical Information Systems (USBMIS) announces its Sale of the Week for the week of March 13th – March 19th.

• Save 10% - Schwartz Principles of Surgery.
• Save 10% - Just the Facts in Emergency Medicine.
• Save 20% Off Each - Buy Schwartz Principles of Surgery and Just the Facts in Emergency Medicine and save BIG.

Hurry, because the sale ends at midnight on March 19, 2006.
posted by Kent 6:03 PM | |

March 12, 2006

 
From the "I Can't Believe I Didn't Know That" Dept.

PalmDoc just alerted me to something that I hadn't realized I could do with my Treo's built-in calculator application.

"When you need to (I am sure you would have encountered situations like that during work) perform some conversion like Temperature (C<>F), Length, Weight or even some basic statistics function, you can switch the Palm's Calc to Advanced mode which has lots of other features. Just tap on the Menu: Options/Advanced, and you are good to go!"

I guess I can ditch Parens now. ;-)
posted by Kent 10:22 PM | |

 
Technical Difficulties

Updates may be a little slow for the next few days. I'm having some trouble with my iBook, which is my main computer, and have a new PowerBook on the way. In the meantime, I'll be making do as best I can. Stay tuned!
posted by Kent 7:13 PM | |

 
Sunday Comics


posted by Kent 7:12 PM | |

March 11, 2006

 
Epocrates Essentials Review

Philip D. Goldstein, M.D. reviews Epocrates Essentials on pdaMD.com.

"Essentials is aptly named in that this suite of applications has become, in my view, the gold standard for mobile medical resources in the marketplace. Although there are a number of alternative products available, none has the accuracy, ease of use or integrated features of Essentials."

I concur.
posted by Kent 3:31 PM | |

 
The Breastfeeding Answer Book - Pocket Guide Edition

Skyscape and La Leche League International are pleased to announce the new release of The Breastfeeding Answer Book - Pocket Guide Edition for your mobile device.

The Breastfeeding Answer Book offers complete and up to date information for those who help mothers breastfeed. You can quickly find the answers to the kinds of questions breastfeeding mothers often ask.

This reference includes:

• New AAP guidelines on newborn jaundice
• Recent research on the safely of hydrogel pads for sore nipples
• Updated description of reverse pressure softening used to treat engorgement
• Images that help visualize a technique

With Skyscape's patented smARTlink technology, Breastfeeding Answer Book 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 8:24 AM | |

 
Care Plan Oversight Log v1.0

Care Plan Oversight is a term used to describe primary care provider activities (other than direct patient contact) for patients receiving home care or hospice services.

For such patients, all major insurers, including Medicare, will reimburse primary care providers for the time spent performing paperwork, talking on the phone and related activities.

Complexity of the documentation process and choice of billing codes has prevented many providers from billing for such work.

As a nationally recognized leader in home care medicine and end of life care, Dr. Edward Ratner, President of Infingo, LLC recognized the difficulties of tracking and billing for Care Plan Oversight.

To overcome the challenges of the required time tracking over a month, CPO Log provides a menu-driven method to document each 5-minute increment of time spent on Care Plan Oversight.

At the end of the month, a linked personal computer program calculates the appropriate billing code and prints medical record documentation and a billing fee ticket.

Freeware.


posted by Kent 12:05 AM | |

March 10, 2006

 
2GB SD Card for $69 with Mail-In Rebate

If you're looking for a 2GB SD Card to hold all of those medical applications, head over to TigerDirect.com. They're offering the Ultra 2GB SD Card for only $69.99 after a mail-in rebate. Act fast, because the offer is only valid through March 31, 2006.

Source: PalmAddict
posted by Kent 7:27 AM | |

March 9, 2006

 
Gold Standard Markets Mobile Apps

Tampa, Fla.-based Gold Standard will market mobile pharmacy applications from Denver-based MedKeeper. Gold Standard's flagship system, eMPOWERx, features hand-held applications for electronic prescribing and decision support, among other functions.

The company now will sell the FormChecker, RxRounds and Pharmacy Hub hand-held applications from MedKeeper. FormChecker is a Web-based formulary and pharmacy information management application that enables pharmacists to update formularies, guidelines and other pharmacy information. RxRounds is a clinical documentation and rounding system that enables pharmacists to create custom lists and forms. Pharmacy Hub is a combination of the two applications.

The MedKeeper applications can be used on PDAs and smart phones running the Palm OS or Windows Mobile operating systems.

Gold Standard last August purchased the Clini-Doc mobile pharmacy documentation system from Orlando, Fla.-based Pharmaconomics Inc., after a year of reselling the software.

Source: Health Data Management
posted by Kent 8:07 PM | |

 
Harriet Lane Handbook, 17th Ed.

Skyscape and Mosby - An Elsevier Health Sciences Company are pleased to announce the new and exciting release of The Harriet Lane Handbook, NEW 17th Edition for your mobile device.

Completely revised and updated with new interactive flowcharts and nearly 600 integrated weight-based dosing calculators, Skyscape's Harriet Lane Handbook sets a new standard as the essential decision support tool for anyone who treats children.
posted by Kent 7:58 PM | |

 
PEPID First to Launch Mobile Wireless Medical Decision-Support

PEPID LLC - the world's leading developer of medical information and support tools - announced today that it is launching two major initiatives aimed at putting critical clinical information and drug data in the hands of healthcare professionals anytime, anywhere. The goal is to make care givers more certain, productive, accurate and mobile.

Virtually anyone using a wireless device—including laptops, mobile carts and wireless handhelds—can connect to PEPID. PEPID Wireless simply requires an Internet Explorer (or equivalent) or a Blazer 4.0 (or higher) browser. BlackBerry users can connect using their BlackBerry browser or Internet Explorer.

The firm is also introducing PEPID INTEGRATOR Solutions that allow developers to easily and quickly integrate PEPID clinical content into existing or developing medical information systems.
posted by Kent 7:56 PM | |

 
Telzuit Gets Reseller

Cardiomedics Inc. will market wireless cardiac monitoring technology developed by Telzuit Medical Technologies Inc. Telzuit's BioPatch system uses Bluetooth wireless technology to send monitoring data to Treo smart phones from Palm Inc. that have been embedded with the vendor's software.

The system - released late last year - consists of a patch containing an adhesive that attaches to a patient's chest. The patch measures electrocardiogram or cardiac event data and sends the information to the smart phone, which is carried by a patient to enable them to monitor their condition.

Telzuit copies the data during the transfer and stores it on a server in its data center. Physicians then can log into the vendor's Web site to retrieve the data.

Source: Health Data Management
posted by Kent 12:42 PM | |

 
New Version of HanDBase for PDAs and Smartphones

DDH Software, Inc. is introducing a new version of its HanDBase relational database application for Palm OS, Pocket PC/Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile Smartphone and Symbian S60 (formerly Series 60) devices. The new version comes as the company is reaching another significant milestone: 150,000 licensed HanDBase users.

DDH Software has added many new features for the various mobile platforms supported by HanDBase, including Palm OS, Windows Mobile (formerly "Pocket PC"), Windows Mobile Smartphone, and Symbian S60-based smartphones and handhelds. Regardless of platform choice, users will enjoy some new capabilities with the HanDBase Desktop component. To begin with, the company has introduced an all-new Mac version of HanDBase Desktop, providing Mac OS X users with the ability to make changes to databases from the convenience of their desktop.

Updates to the mobile Palm OS version of HanDBase include:

• One-handed navigation support for Treo 600 and 650 smartphones;
• Five-way navigation support;
• Improved formatting options for the HanDBase Forms Designer via a “snap to grid” feature;
• Support for the latest high-resolution screens, 320 x 480, even in custom designed forms.

Users can design their own databases from scratch or start from any of the thousands of free applets available at ddhsoftware.com - which have been created and submitted by HanDBase users.
posted by Kent 12:36 PM | |

March 8, 2006

 
Medical Spanish

Somebody asked me about medical Spanish resources for PDAs recently, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that there are several different programs available.

Back when I was a medical student, I did a rotation on Virginia's Eastern Shore that involved taking care of Spanish-speaking migrant workers. I used a little home-grown PDA reference to help me with some medical Spanish phrases and words, and found it useful, if a little cumbersome.

I haven't tried any of these programs myself, but I imagine they're better than what I had in med school.

English & Spanish Medical Words & Phrases - From Skyscape, this handy PDA reference presents English and Spanish translations of all medical terms and phrases used in clinician-patient interactions.

Medical Spanish pocket for PDA - From Börm Bruckmeier Publishing. The general language section provides overview of the Spanish language, including pronunciation, common words, phrases, and basics of medical terminology. The medical interview section is clearly and intuitively organized by organ system and medical condition, and provides phrases useful in administering general or focused H&P.

Ultimate Medical Spanish - A concise, amazing, easy-to-use program for the Palm and Pocket PC platforms that enables physicians to gather detailed information from Spanish-speaking patients during a history and physical.

English to Spanish Medical Phrases List - Database with medical words and phrases translated from English to Spanish. Categories include anatomy, conditions, evaluation and assessment, hygiene, medical history, meds and IVs, nouns, OB-gyn, post-op, patient complaints, and other common words and phrases.

Basic Medical Spanish - Approximately 100 items cover basic verbs, simple phrases, and intermediate-level sentences that would be of use in a hospital setting, especially in the medical interview and the physical exam. While in no way comprehensive, this collection will still provide you a basic background to start communicating with Spanish-speaking patients.

Spanish-English English-Spanish Medical Dictionary, 3rd Edition, PDA for Mobipocket - Offers clear, concise definitions at the touch of your stylus - leaving no doubt about correct translations. Includes more than 20,000 terms with clearly written definitions for both English and Spanish terminology.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary/Phrasebook - From Beiks, LLC. Provides essential English to Spanish medical vocabulary that field healthcare workers need to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients. Two alternative forms of the dictionary are provided - as a simple, classic reference dictionary, or as an alphabetically sorted topic dictionary for easier access in particular field situations and scenarios.

None of these will make you fluent, but they can help you get the job done.
posted by Kent 8:25 PM | |

 
USBMIS Sale of the Week

USBMIS has teamed up with Dr. William Orrison to create Medical Imaging Consultant PDA Edition, the ordering physician’s quick reference for diagnostic imaging exams. It provides portable, fast access to extensive information that will help determine whether image testing is necessary, and if so, assist in choosing the most appropriate exam.

With interlinked content and a custom designed user interface, the Medical Imaging Consultant PDA Edition provides the most convenient and accurate way to select the single, best exam.

Features include:

• Current information for over 350 clinical conditions
• Data on diagnostic procedure
• Clinical benefit
• CPT Code
• Medicare reimbursement
• Radiation in chest X-ray equivalents
• Overall risk factors
• Clearly divided pediatric and adult sections
• Easy-search index

The Medical Imaging Consultant PDA Edition is supported by over 160 references as the best way to weigh the risks versus rewards of using and misusing diagnostic imaging in the most common clinical care situations.

Download your application today at the USBMIS Store to take advantage of this week’s Sale of the Week and purchase the Medical Imaging Consultant PDA Edition now, and save 20%. The sale ends at midnight on March 12th.
posted by Kent 7:43 AM | |

 
Mood Disorder Questionnaire

StatCoder.com has begun beta testing a free screening tool for bipolar spectrum disorders. The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) is a 13-item checklist developed by Robert M. A. Hirschfeld, MD, and published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The questionnaire is an easy-to-use screening tool that can help you identify patients with bipolar disorder. Any patient who screens positive on the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) should have a full evaluation for bipolar disorder or for diseases presenting similar symptoms. This questionnaire is not intended as a diagnostic tool, but rather as a screening tool, that will help you identify how much suspicion one should have for bipolar disorder.

For Palm OS (or Pocket PC using the StyleTap platform).


posted by StatCoder.com 12:29 AM | |

March 7, 2006

 
Royal Society of Medicine 2006 Workshop on Handheld Computers

This is the third annual workshop on handheld computers by the Royal Society of Medicine and is scheduled for April the 6th. The workshop is in two tracks, one for beginners (who would like to learn how to use a handheld computer) and one for advanced users (who would like to learn how to use handheld computers in projects). Ownership of a handheld computer is not necessary, and the beginner sessions will provide a device on the day for the hands-on tutorials.
posted by Kent 8:01 PM | |

 
Symbol in the Healthcare Setting

From Medgadget.com:

When we think of PDA's in the hospital, our frame of reference was medical students looking up dosage information or exotic diseases on their Palms or Pocket PC's.

In the last few years, however, industrial handhelds have come a long way. They can now do everything those med students were doing, plus combine a lot of disparate features found on other devices. These handhelds represent the convergence of many well-established technologies, finally available in a small enough format, providing enough incentive to re-train all those healthcare workers.

Symbol Technologies is moving into this market, offering handhelds that can place calls to colleagues, receive lab results wirelessly as they're updated, and scan barcodes for medication dispensing.

Click here to read the entire article.
posted by Kent 9:50 AM | |

 
Leading Central Illinois Hospital Selects PatientKeeper

Memorial Medical Center, the flagship hospital for the Springfield, Ill.-based Memorial Health System, has selected PatientKeeper's award-winning Physician Information System to address its information technology needs with one integrated environment. Physicians practicing at the hospital will now be able to manage patient care, collaborate with other providers, and record charges for services with Web browsers on laptop/desktop PCs, PDAs, and Smartphones. Moreover, PatientKeeper will provide physicians with access to essential patient information even during scheduled and unscheduled system downtimes.

Only PatientKeeper's Physician Information System is designed to support a physician's entire day. Physicians can access their patients' electronic records, write prescriptions, enter charges for services, document patient encounters, place orders, and securely send messages to other caregivers - all in a single integrated environment. Memorial Medical Center's implementation will include PatientKeeper Mobile Clinical Results, PatientKeeper Physician Portal, PatientKeeper Messaging, and PatientKeeper Charge Capture.

System installation is scheduled to commence this summer.
posted by Kent 12:26 AM | |

March 6, 2006

 
Mobile Research Gets an Update

bcc:Consulting has released an updated version of its research report on choosing mobile clinical technologies. The firm's "Going Mobile, 2006 Edition" is the first update to its July, 2004 publication titled "Going Mobile: Choosing the Right Inpatient Solution."

The latest report includes profiles on mobile clinical I.T. vendors and a section focused on industry trends, observations and predicted merger and acquisition activity for 2006. Other information includes what types of mobile applications are available for the inpatient setting, what groups can benefit from such technologies and the challenges of implementing the technologies.

bcc:Consulting is selling the report for $150. It can be downloaded via the company's Web site.

Source: Health Data Management
posted by Kent 5:49 PM | |

 
VoIP Coming to the Palm OS

The MantraGroup is currently working on a mobile Voice over IP (VoIP) solution for the Palm OS. Their product, mobiVoIP, is currently undergoing a closed beta trial. When ready, mobiVoIP will enable many Palm OS devices to make voice calls over the Internet from a wirelessly connected handheld.

When you make a VoIP phone call, you use a normal touch-tone telephone and dial the normal phone number just as you would any other time. The people on the other end (usually) can't tell that whether you are calling from a traditional telephone or a VoIP phone. The main difference is that the phone call travels over the Internet rather than through the local phone company's wires. mobiVoip takes it to next step allowing you to use your PDA and make VoIP calls.

The company has not yet announced a release date or pricing info.

Source: Palm InfoCenter
posted by Kent 5:43 PM | |

 
Fax from your Palm or Treo

Conklin Systems has been busy working on its fax solutions for the Palm OS. With CS Fax, you can compose, send and receive faxes directly from your Treo or Palm OS handheld.

CS Fax lets you receive faxes while you're on the go, view faxes on your handheld, sign them and send them out again, or even communicate ideas quickly with an inserted drawing. The programs is a "true" fax solution, in that it does not require a gateway, wrapper account or any other subscription service.

The company says that the Treo is supported, however depending on your carrier you may need to add a 'CSD fax service plan.' GSM Treo's currently can send faxes, but not receive them. Other Palm OS handhelds may work over Bluetooth if you have a compatible mobile phone.

CS Fax sells for $49.95 and there is a free fully-functional trial version.

Source: Palm InfoCenter


posted by Kent 5:39 PM | |

 
Evidence-Based Decision Support Tools at ACC

Skyscape, Inc. will spotlight the largest library of trusted evidence-based decision support tools available for point-of-care use by cardiologists and other medical professionals in booth #4859 at the upcoming American College of Cardiology's 55th Annual Scientific Session, in Atlanta (ACC.06), March 11-14, 2006.

Skyscape has also been selected by the ACC to deliver an eGuide for the show, which will be available at an ACC kiosk near the conference registration area. The eGuide will be available by wireless "beaming" directly to PDA, or on CD for later installation.
posted by Kent 11:29 AM | |

March 5, 2006

 
iSilo Updated

The versatile document reader iSilo has been updated to ver. 4.3. This is a relatively minor update for Palm OS users, as most of the issues addressed pertain only to the WinMob/PPC/CE versions.

Still, if you use a lot of iSilo documents (such as those found at the Medical iSilo Depot), you'll probably want to keep your copy of iSilo current.
posted by Kent 8:30 AM | |

 
Sunday Comics


posted by Kent 12:01 AM | |

March 2, 2006

 
PDA Trials App Accepts Glucose Data

Pittsburgh-based Invivodata Inc. has announced its handheld clinical trials application can accept data from blood glucose meters. The company's DiaryPRO application is designed to enable clinical trial participants to enter data on PDAs running the Palm OS operating system.

The software now accepts data transferred from blood glucose meters from Roche Diagnostics through infrared wireless technology. Patients align the infrared ports on their meters and PDAs to initiate data transfer using the company's SynchoPRO application. The company released the application last summer to enable its handheld trials application to collect data from a variety of medical devices using short-range wireless technologies.

The integration with the Roche Diagostics' blood glucose meters is being used in a current study of 300 patients with type 2 diabetes.

Source: Health Data Management
posted by Kent 11:05 PM | |

 
Emergency! All-in-One Mobile Solution

Unbound Medicine today released Emergency Central, featuring the Emergency Medicine Manual. Like Medicine Central, Nursing Central and Anesthesia Central, Emergency Central is available for download to Palm OS and Pocket PC devices and accessible via the Web from your PC, Treo, BlackBerry or Smartphone.

Emergency Central provides quick answers to clinical questions through the integration of disease, drug and test information. Emergency Medicine Manual is the core disease resource, a distillation of the clinical content from Tintanalli's Emergency Medicine. The popular Diagnosaurus, Davis's Drug Guide, Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests round out the bundle.

Over 5,600 links integrate the resources with precise connections. You can jump quickly from presentation to diagnostic assessment and then to therapeutic options.

Emergency Central has the literature management tools expected in "Central" products. Tables of content for over 250 journals and literature alerts can be directed to your PDA upon synchronization. In addition, from the Web you can search MEDLINE, browse tables of contents, or review saved articles and search results in a personal "Archive".

To test drive Emergency Central, visit the Open House. You don't need to register to see the content and functionality of the program on the Web. Download a trial version to your PDA to see Unbound Medicine's clean handheld interface and accurate linking implementation.
posted by Kent 10:46 PM | |

March 1, 2006

 
Palm in Healthcare

Kevin Friese of Edmonton, Canada, has this to say:

Recently, we've seen quite a bit of news about handhelds and tablet PC's making inroads into the healthcare field. This really isn't nothing new given that urban care facilities have traditionally been pushing the envelope when it comes to technology in healthcare.

However, what is new is the variety of wireless options that have become available to medical professionals over the past few years. PDA's are increasingly equipped with internet access, broadband capabilities and wireless encryption, all things that are important to health professionals who are expected to do more with less time!

As a manager of a medical clinic, I have come to rely on my Treo 650 for everything from budget management to patient tracking and IT support. The versatility of the Treo makes it the perfect workhorse within the clinic and offers a vast array of medical and business software that I cannot find with pocket PC or blackberry platforms.

Similarly, our clinic made the decision a couple of years ago to deploy palm tungsten E's to our department heads and many of our physicians for the purposes of accessing current medical information and reference materials in addition to utilizing some of the fantastic diagnostic and treatment tools that are available to health professionals today.

Palm's have freed our staff from their workstations and have allowed them to take their medical practice with them wherever they may need to go. I'm not saying that we've built a utopia but the pda's have definitely assisted with making many of our staff more productive and efficient. For my part, I have come to appreciate the fact that I can take my office with me wherever I go and this definitely comes in handy when you're often called away to stakeholder meetings outside of the clinic.

I hope to talk a great deal more in the future about the specific impacts that our palm deployment has had on our clinic. For now, let me just say that we have gone from a group of tentative users who thought that palm's were glorified daytimers, to a group of health professionals who see their palms as integral tools in managing clinic affairs and treating their patients.

Source: PalmAddicts
posted by Kent 7:21 AM | |

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