August 2006
The Top PDA Resources for Family Physicians:
Here are 15 resources that can make you more effective with your handheld.
American Academy of Family Physicians
By: Alvin B. Lin, MD, FAAFP
The amount of medical software available to use with personal digital assistants (PDAs) has grown to an impressive – and perhaps daunting – level. A Web site that tracks health-care-specific PDA programs lists more than 850 resources available for download, and it was last updated back in September 2004; undoubtedly, more are available now. Despite the array of PDA options, or perhaps because of it, many physicians do not use their PDA for much beyond its calendar and address functions. I've even seen PDAs used as paperweights, collecting dust while their owners sit paralyzed by fear of spending more money on the wrong software.
To help physicians out of this situation, I have put together a list of the PDA resources most relevant to the practicing family physician. Without further ado, here are my top 10 resources for PDAs (actually, it's my top 15, due to several ties, but who's counting).
1. Epocrates (www.epocrates.com). I consider Epocrates in all its variations the must-have application for family physicians. I especially recommend Epocrates Essentials, which includes a version of Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult (Epocrates Dx), a laboratory reference (Epocrates Lab), an infectious disease reference (Epocrates ID) and an alternative/complementary medicine database in addition to its standard medication data (Epocrates RxPro). Even if you choose not to pay for the full experience, the free version of Epocrates Rx allows you to check for drug-to-drug interactions among up to 30 medications and for compatibility issues between intravenous medications. Furthermore, several complementary calculators and references are available for those of us who are less savvy users, along with free CME. Now, I cannot go so far as to recommend obtaining your 150 hours of CME every three years by staring at your PDA's screen, but it's handy while you're at the airport waiting for a flight.
CONTACT: Erica Sniad Morgenstern Epocrates Public Relations PHONE: (650) 227-6907 E-MAIL: pr@epocrates.com WEB: www.epocrates.com