Android users rejoice. If you are an UpToDate subscriber, you now can download the new UpToDate Android app.

Description
Find clinical answers at the point of care or anywhere you need them! Now you can access current, synthesized clinical information from UpToDate® — including evidence-based recommendations — quickly and easily on your AndroidTM phone or tablet. This app is free to download. However, an individual subscription is required to log in and use it.
Features of UpToDate include:
• Persistent login
• Easy Search with Auto-complete
• Bookmarks and History
• Mobile-optimized Calculators
• Ability to earn CME/CE/CPD credit

This is the first public release of the Android app for UpToDate. Like the first UpToDate iOS mobile app, you need to login and you need an Internet connection. It is more convenient to have a native app rather than access UpToDate from the browser and you get more options than just the browser version. I suppose eventually UpToDate will release an “UpToDate Complete” for Android much like the iOS UpToDate Complete.
Update: It seems that this first release, although a free app, is available only to those who have access to the Google Play store in North America.

UpToDate is a great reference source for pharmacists; actually all healthcare professionals. It was my favorite reference when I was still a real pharmacist. My browser always had a tab open to UpToDate.

Based on The Palmdoc Chronicles article I went in search of the Android version of UpToDate. Not easy to find at the UpToDate site. Fortunately it only took me a second to find it on Google Play.

Note: UpToDate requires a subscription to get to all the information.

Case in point is an email I received this morning letting me know that the Medscape app is available for the Kindle Fire from the Amazon Appstore. I have the Medscape app for Android on my Nexus. I use it on occasion and consider it a secondary reference, but hey it’s free and it has some good information in it.

From the Amazon Appstore website:

Product Features
Access Medscape’s extensive database of medical information (the largest available)
Gain information about more than 8,000 drugs, 4,000 diseases and conditions, thousands of clinical images and procedure videos, drug interaction checker tools, daily medical news, and more
Access the clinical reference database and drug interaction checker anywhere without an Internet connection (Requires full installation of clinical reference database on device)
Receive daily medical news and critical alerts in 34 specialty areas
Check medications for drug interactions and complications, up to 30 at a time
Product Description
Medscape from WebMD (medscape.com) is the leading medical resource most used by physicians, medical students, nurses, and other healthcare professionals for clinical information. this mobile app is used by over one million healthcare professionals.

Save medical news articles and read offline. No Internet connection is required. Access prescribing and safety information for more than 8,000 brand and generic drugs, OTC drugs, and herbals and supplements. This includes pill images, drug pricing, pregnancy and lactation guidelines, and more. Save commonly searched drugs to a personalized saved list for easy access.

Diseases, Conditions & Procedures:
- More than 4,000 evidence-based articles authored by leading physician experts (with images and videos)
- Over 600 step-by-step procedure videos, plus more than 100 tables and protocols
- Includes pathophysiology, epidemiology, differential diagnoses, workup, treatment, medication options, and more

Continuing Medical Education:
- Vast selection of CME/CE activities in 32 specialty areas
- Save and e-mail activities, track credits earned, and more

Clinical Reference Updates – January 2012 Summary for Medscape App for Android™

• 487 diseases & conditions updated
• 114 drug monographs updated
• 4 new drug monographs added

Featured Content of the Month – Heart Failure

This month we bring you an expanded collection of over 30 Heart Failure topics that have been updated with the most recent developments from medical literature and guideline recommendations from the American Heart Association, the New York Heart Association, and the European Society of Cardiology.

Comprehensive coverage on Heart Failure, including:

Heart Failure – includes the latest guidelines from the ACCF/AHA, NYHA, and ESC, as well as a greatly expanded multimedia library of clinical images and videos

Echocardiography – discusses the technical aspects of 2-D and Doppler echocardiography and provides an overview of equipment and patient preparation

Transvenous Cardiac Pacing - provides details on obtaining venous access, a technique for placement of the pacing lead, and complications that may occur

Permanent Pacemaker Insertion – offers information on devices and equipment, details on the implantation technique, and a discussion of technical considerations

New Drug Monographs

azilsartan/chlorthalidone (Edarbyclor)
New drug combination of an angiotensin II receptor blocker and thiazide-like diuretic indicated for treatment of hypertension.

glucarpidase (Voraxaze)
New carboxypeptidase enzyme indicated for toxic plasma methotrexate concentrations in patients with delayed methotrexate clearance due to impaired renal function.

Drug Monograph Updates

brentuximab (Adcetris)
A new black box warning was added that describes cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, a rare but serious brain infection that can result in death.

C1 inhibitor human (Berinert)
Expanded indication includes treatment of acute attacks for laryngeal hereditary angioedema.

pneumococcal vaccine 13-valent (Prevnar 13)
New indication for prevention of pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae in adults aged 50 years or older.

raltegravir (Isentress)
New pediatric indication for HIV-1 infection in children aged 2 years or older.

Fentanyl transmucosal (Subsys)
New sublingual spray indicated for breakthrough cancer pain.

Practice Changing Updates

Our app is continually being updated with new FDA drug approvals, the latest clinical updates from medical literature and current guidelines to help you stay informed and make the best decisions in the treatment of your patients. Here are this month’s featured updates:

Bacterial Pneumonia – Prevnar 13, a pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for people aged 50 years and older to prevent pneumonia and invasive disease caused by the bacterium, Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Human Papillomavirus – The CDC now recommends the quadrivalent HPV vaccine (Gardasil) for routine use in boys aged 11 or 12 years. Current recommendations advise vaccination for males aged 13-21 years who have not been vaccinated previously or who have not completed the 3-dose series.

“The thing that is missing is getting the people with the domain expertise aligned with the people with technological know-how to turn ideas into branded services,””

I think these comments ring true for many of us that realize the disconnect between the people designing and building products for healthcare, and those actually using them. I can attest to the fact that it exists in many aspects of pharmacy automation and technology where things have a way of being forced down your throat. It becomes a game of which product is the “least bad”. It’s called settling for something, and it never really makes anyone happy. That’s why we’ve seen so many homegrown systems in pharmacies over the years.

There once was time when terrible usability at least meant great functionality. Unfortunately many companies have chosen to improve the usability at the expense of the functionality, which ultimately leads to a crappy product. I’ve experienced this many times during my career, especially with pharmacy information systems where improved UI’s have often resulted in poor performance, more mouse clicks and frustration.

Do the industry a favor and ask the end users what they need, instead of giving them what you think they want.

According to Tablets Planet the “Latitude ST tablet features a Intel Atom processor, Windows 7, Microsoft Bitlocker, Kensington lock, USB port, SD card slot, HDMI port, and a LCD that features finger multi-touch and a stylus for input, and there are also front and rear-facing cameras for video conferencing (front) and taking photos (rear).”

In addition the Latitude ST claims an 8 hour battery life. This is in line with the battery life claims of the Samsung Series 7 tablet.

Now if I could just get Samsung or Dell to develop a docking solution similar to the Asus Transformer we’d have something.

In this case it’s ASHP’s Interactive Handbook on Injectable Drugs: IV Decision Support by Lawrence A. Trissel. Every pharmacist working in a hospital pharmacy knows about this reference. And if they don’t then they have a big problem because it’s only one of the most definitive reference sources for IV compatibility. Over the course of my career it’s simply been know as “the Trissel’s”. (kind of like “the Talyst”…just sayin’ – private joke people)

There’s a link in the ASHP web store leading to a “getting started video”, but I couldn’t get the video to run. Little bit of a fail. Perhaps ASHP’s never heard of YouTube. Who knows.

Link to Android version is here.

Link to iPad version in iTues store is here.