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May 2004 - Issue No. 35
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What's new this month at Epocrates
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We are pleased to have over 350,000 healthcare professionals currently subscribed to one or more Epocrates products including Epocrates Dx™, Epocrates Rx®, Epocrates Rx Pro™ and Epocrates Rx Online™. If you’re not currently using Epocrates clinical reference tools to help you improve patient safety and practice efficiency, we hope you’ll visit Epocrates Dx, powered by Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult, is our newest premium clinical reference, designed to provide quick and easy access to comprehensive information on over 1,200 diseases and conditions. Like all Epocrates products, Epocrates Dx is regularly updated so that you have the most up-to-date clinical and formulary content. Please read on to learn more about Epocrates news for this month . . . |
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May Will Bring the Medicare Drug Discount Card Rush
On May 3, 2004, Medicare beneficiaries without Medicaid coverage can begin enrolling in new Medicare-approved drug discount programs that resulted from the Medicare reform legislation passed in December 2003. Here are some key points about the drug discount program:
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Each drug discount card program has a list of covered drugs. Epocrates will become your resource for the discount card drug lists and integrate participating programs’ drug lists with the Epocrates Rx drug database. Epocrates recently developed its first partnership with Pharmacy Care Alliance (PCA). PCA is an initiative of community pharmacies with the goal of providing the most competitive discount card program with the best overall value for Medicare beneficiaries. PCA will be making its covered drug list available on Epocrates Rx and Epocrates Rx Pro, and will be delivering two DocAlert(R) messages with information pertaining to valuable resources. Epocrates is actively pursuing partnerships with all of the |
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Study Praises PDAs at the Point-of-Care
The March 1, 2004 issue of the American Journal of Medicine featured a survey on the "Identification of Drug-Drug Interactions with Personal Digital Assistant-Based Software," in which the Epocrates Rx Pro drug reference was highly rated. Based on defined patient profiles, prescriptions and drug-drug interaction pairs, the drug-drug interaction warnings from six PDA-based programs were documented and then used to calculate the sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive values and positive predictive values for each program. The survey results suggest that the "software is effective in the identification of important drug-drug interactions and therefore has the potential to reduce the frequency of preventable adverse drug events," wrote the survey’s authors Robert L. Robinson, MD, and Martha S. Buck, MD, of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. The authors further emphasized that efforts to deploy such PDA-based programs in a wide range of clinical settings has the "potential to improve patient safety." BACK TO TOPICS >> |
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Keep Your Clinical Information Current - AutoUpdate Now!
One of the most important ways Epocrates contributes to enhancing patient safety is by providing reliable and up-to-date drug and clinical reference information. The Epocrates Medical Information Editors are regularly adding new drugs and updating content in the Epocrates Rx®, Epocrates Rx Pro™ and Epocrates Rx Online™ clinical references including new indications, FDA Medwatch changes, new drug-drug interactions and more. The list below highlights only key changes made to the clinical references. The Medical Information Editors are regularly updating the content. To keep your information current and reduce the risk of adverse drug events, we recommend you AutoUpdate Epocrates Rx and Epocrates Rx Pro at least once per week. New FDA-approved prescription drugs
New monographs for previously approved prescription drugs
New indications for previously approved prescription drugs
A total of 26 monographs representing estrogen and estrogen/progestin containing medications were updated to reflect new labeling that incorporates data from the Women's Health Initiative Study. Changes include revised cautions and adverse events related to heart disease and thromboembolism as well as the most recent information involving an increased risk of probable dementia in women older than 65 taking certain postmenopausal hormone products. For more information, click here. |
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Does Your Organization Provide You With Access to Epocrates Content?
A site licenses for the Epocrates Rx Online™ web-based clinical reference is a cost-effective solution for groups, giving you and your colleagues easy access to our popular Internet resource. Benefits of a Site License:
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Celebrate National Nurse, Hospital and EMS Weeks
Epocrates would like to spotlight two upcoming national events that recognize nurses and hospitals. During National Hospital Week, May 9-15, 2004, facilities across the nation will unite under the theme "Miracles Start With Caring Hearts." Miracles are nothing new to the health care industry. Every new discovery, every great innovation, every wonder of health care has its origin in a miracle which has long been the mainstay of the healing profession – the heart of the caregiver. It is here where seeds are planted for miracles yet undreamed. The American Hospital Association, which organizes the events, says that with new technologies and advances in medicine, we’re living in a miraculous time for health care, but it’s important to remember that these medical miracles would not be possible without the caring, concern and dedication to excellence of every health care professional. The celebration of National Hospital Week began in 1921 when a magazine editor suggested that more information about hospitals might alleviate public fears about the "shrouded" institutions of the day. From that beginning, Hospital Week expanded to facilities across the nation. Today, through promotion and participation, National Hospital Week has grown into the nation's largest health care event, with hospitals across the country organizing events during this week-long celebration. The work of America's 2.7 million registered nurses to save lives and to maintain the health of millions of individuals is the focus of this year's National Nurses Week, celebrated annually May 6-12 throughout the United States. "Nurses: Your Voice, Your Health, Your Life" is the theme for 2004. National Nurses Week opens on May 6 - RN Recognition Day - and ends on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, founder of nursing as a modern profession. National Nurses Week is May 6 – 12, and all across the United States, registered nurses are being saluted. Epocrates joins with the American Nurses Association in celebrating National RN Recognition Day, as part of National Nurses Week, The purpose of National RN Recognition Day is to raise awareness of the value of nursing and help educate the public about the role nurses play in meeting the health care needs of the American people. In honor of the dedication, commitment, and tireless effort of the nearly 2.7 million registered nurses nationwide to promote and maintain the health of this nation, we are proud to recognize registered nurses everywhere on this particular day for the quality work they provide seven days a week, 365 days a year. BACK TO TOPICS >> |
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Epocrates Advocate of the Month –
Jann Wesley, RN, CNS Advocate of the Month This month, we have selected Jann Wesley, RN, CNS to be our Advocate of the Month. We would like to thank Jann for her continued support of Epocrates over the years and for educating her colleagues about Epocrates products. We are honored to have Jann as an Epocrates Advocate. “I am a Certified Clinical Nurse Specialist at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I work in the hospital's Acute Psychiatric Service which is a 24/7 psychiatric emergency room. My current position includes evaluating patients for the initiation of psychoactive medication. We are a teaching hospital and the APS sees between eleven and thirteen thousand patients a year who walk-in or are brought in by police, ambulance, concerned family, the emergency department and the hospital clinics. The patients we see often have complicating medical problems and are being treated with various medications. I use Epocrates products on a daily basis to help me provide patients with the best care possible. I can't imagine practicing safely without having the MultiCheck(R) feature to check drug and alternative medication interactions. The ability to AutoUpdate and receive the most current drug and disease information is also an amazing feature which eliminates outdated texts. I feel much more confidant having immediate and easily accessible information about the medications I prescribe. I recently purchased Epocrates Dx, which is an excellent disease diagnosis reference. The format is straightforward, well designed and integrated with other Epocrates applications. I love how Epocrates technology is so user-friendly and tell every prescriber I know to use this superb resource.” Advocate Program If you would like to become an Epocrates Advocate, please write to advocates@epocrates.com so we can email you an informational PowerPoint presentation and other educational tools. |
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This concludes the May issue of the Epocrates Newsletter.
Best wishes, The Epocrates Team |
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