The February 2010 issue of Hospital Pharmacy (PDF) contains a review of the Motorola DROID, and the authors overall impression of the device is positive. I’ve had a DROID since its release in early November 2009. My initial impressions of the device can be found here.
As mentioned by the authors in the article the currently available pharmacy-related applications are limited when compared to devices like the iPhone, but the numbers are growing. Drug information resources like Lexi-Comp, Skyscape and ePocrates are now available for use on the DROID as well as some medical references like Merck Medicus, Unboud Medicine and UpToDate (via mobile browser). Unfortunately I don’t have a list of available medical applications for the Android operating system nor do I know of a site that does, but the popularity of the Android operating system is growing and it’s only a matter of time before other medical references start popping up.
One piece of advice in the article that I found interesting was to “begin by selecting the telecommunication service that is most reliable and has the best connectivity coverage for voice and data in the community where you live.” Imagine that, selecting a mobile phone that first and foremost keeps you connected. I’ll make sure to keep that in mind the next time I feel the need to purchase another smartphone. Then again maybe I won’t. I guess that depends on how badly I want the device.
It looks like Epocrates beta is available for the Palm webOS platform. Check out the video below to get the gist for the look and feel of the app.
I don’t use Epocrates myself. My mobile drug information resources of choice come from Lexi-Comp. However, Epocrates is a very popular and highly respected resource among healthcare professionals.
Unfortunately Palm and the webOS don’t appear to have a good long-term prognosis in the smartphone arena. I’ve been reading various reports that Palm may be on its way out secondary to the iPhone, BlackBerry and newer android devices. That’s really too bad. I’ve been a big fan of the Palm operating system since its inception back in the 1990’s. In fact, I would be using a Palm Pre today if it would have been available through Verizon when I purchased my DROID.
I’d love to talk with someone at Palm about building an 8-10” slate tablet device running webOS. The simplicity of the operating system and the ability to really have multiple applications open at once is very appealing. Consider that you can also run legacy Palm OS software on webOS-based devices via emulator software like Classic from Motionapps, and you really have something to like. I fear that this is only a dream, however, as I haven’t heard a peep about anything from Palm even remotely resembling a tablet device.
So, Palm, if you ever feel the need to build a tablet device please give me a call. I have some ideas for you.
Our facility is running a trial of DynaMed, “an evidence based medicine point-of-care” database. It reminds me of UpToDate.
From the DynaMed site:
• According to the National Academy Press (2001) 44-98,000 American deaths per year occur due to preventable medical errors; medical errors are estimated to cost the U.S. $17 to $29 billion annually
• Using the “best available evidence” for clinical decision-making improves health outcomes and reduces health care costs
• Busy clinicians use “fast and easy” resources expected to answer most of their questions instead of resources designed to provide the best current evidence
• Clinicians sometimes turn to textbooks and online resources with substantial breadth, but these resources do not use the best available evidence
• Physicians and other health care professionals need a resource where they can reliably answer most questions quickly and accurately (i.e., with the best available evidence)
I read an interesting blog today. In the blog the author states that:
An Apple tablet would be the ultimate UI for electronic medical records. With a touch-screen display like the iPhone, using the EMR during an encounter would be simplified. For example, selecting an evaluation and management (E&M) code could be as easy as “dialing in” the code with a swipe of a finger.
Using the iPhone’s intelligent keyboard technology, the device could have a very sophisticated automatic coding tool. Some EMRs can already auto-generate E&M codes based on information collected during the patient encounter. Combine this with the iPhone’s keyboard word suggestion tool, and physicians could rapidly select codes. Additionally, just as the iPhone adapts its keys and layout for different applications, the Mac Tablet could display a unique keyboard setting for each EMR function.
Using iPhone speech recognition technology, physicians could dictate directly into an EMR to create notes, draft narrative reports or generate custom patient instructions. Mac design programs could be repurposed to make a really slick tablet drawing tool for anatomical diagrams that illustrate procedures and diagnoses.
There is no question that I think tablets are underutilized in healthcare. I have pushed them into the hands of pharmacists at my facility and have tried various different things to encourage their use. While I would love to see tablet computers adopted in mass among healthcare systems, I just don’t think it’s in the cards for the iSlate for several reasons. Read more…
I happened to check some statistics on my website this morning and found that the top searchpharases that brought people to my site over the weekend were related to the Droid and Lexi-comp (image below). I find this very interesting as well as encouraging.
As usual there were a lot of things that happened during the week, and not all of it was pharmacy or technology related. Here’s a quick look at some of the stuff I found interesting. Read more…
The Impact of Mobile Handheld Technology on Hospital Physicians’ Work Practices and Patient Care: A Systematic Review1
The Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
Mirela Prgomet, Andrew Georgiou, Johanna I Westbrook
Abstract
The substantial growth in mobile handheld technologies has heralded the opportunity to provide physicians with access to information, resources, and people at the right time and place. But is this technology delivering the benefits to workflow and patient care promised by increased mobility? The authors conducted a systematic review to examine evidence regarding the impact of mobile handheld technology on hospital physicians’ work practices and patient care, focusing on quantification of the espoused virtues of mobile technologies. The authors identified thirteen studies that demonstrated the ability of personal digital assistants (PDAs) to positively impact on areas of rapid response, error prevention, and data management and accessibility. The use of PDAs demonstrates the greatest benefits in contexts where time is a critical factor and a rapid response crucial. However, the extent to which these devices improved outcomes and workflow efficiencies because of their mobility was largely absent from the literature. The paucity of evidence calls for much needed future research that asks explicit questions about the impact the mobility of devices has on work practices and outcomes.
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of tablet PCs. In fact, I can’t imagine life without one. The reason why acute care pharmacists haven’t adopted the tablet PC platform escapes me. My complete opinion on the matter can be found here.
With the growing need for real-time access to patient data it no longer makes sense to be anchored to a desktop PC at the point-of-care. Couple this with the rapid growth of portable technology and you have a rare opportunity to develop a mobile pharmacy practice in the acute care setting. Whether that model will utilize tablet PCs, UMPCs, WebStations, netbooks or other mobile device remains to be seen. Read more…
I just saw a Tweet from Lexi-Comp announcing that they have a demonstration video of their ON-HAND software running on the Android platform. And because I’m using a Motorola Droid as my mobile device of choice, this is very exciting news. See the video below. Additional information is also available at the Lexi-Comp website.
Below is a list of drug information resources for both mobile devices and online access. I’ve used most, but not all, of these resources and have found the mobile versions to be a valuable resource when you’re on the go. While it is possible to access the online versions of these resources via a smartphone, the mobile applications are designed with the smaller screen in mind and therefore, in my opinion, work better then the online versions when using a mobile device.
Let me know if I missed any. Also feel free to comment on your favorite. Read more…
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of tablet PCs. In fact, I can’t imagine life without one. The reason why acute care pharmacists haven’t adopted the tablet PC platform escapes me. My complete opinion on the matter can be found 
