I have no idea why HP killed the webOS, but I’m sure we’ll find out more in the weeks to come. The operating system itself was awesome. I personally think it had the best user experience of all the current tablet platforms. I was looking forward to it’s maturation as a mobile computing ecosystem. With that said I think HP failed to offer the smartphone variety necessary to make the HP TouchPad meaningful.

I considered buying a TouchPad, but ultimately decided against it. Like many others I have a host of tablets to chose from these days. Why did I baulk at the TouchPad? Basically it boils down to cost, lack of smartphone choice and the feeling that the TouchPad still had some growing pains to go through. These are the same reasons that lead me to hold off on purchasing many of the early Android tablets.

Good-bye TouchPad. Your death was premature to say the least. Shame on you HP for destroying such a beautiful tablet operating system.

As I read about the release of the HP TouchPad on July 1st, I can’t help feel both excited and disappointed. The operating system on the new TouchPad appears second to none. The “card-view” multi-tasking offers a simple, yet powerful user interface. In fact, the user interface is so nice that RIM blatantly copied it for use on their PlayBook.

In addition the TouchPad offers a dual-core Snapdragon processor, HP Synergy to provide a single interface for email, social media, calendars, contacts and more, just type, support for both Flash and HTML5, video calling on a beautiful 1024×768 multitouch screen, and so on. You’ve designed a tablet truly worthy of consideration even when compared to all other tablets currently on the market. 

One of my favorite features of the new HP TouchPad is the next generation of Touchstone technology that makes HP devices work better together. The ability to share a website between devices by simply touching them together is brilliant. However, the functionality is currently limited to the Palm Pre3. I’ve always thought highly of the the Palm Pre line of smartphones, but consider them too small for my needs. The 3.58-inch screen and vertical physical keyboard simply won’t work for me. I want a smartphone with a larger screen and a larger physical keyboard or a solid, fully functional touchscreen keyboard. You’ve created a new mobile ecosystem with the HP TouchPad as the center piece and developed incredible integration with your smartphones. However, you’ve failed to improve your smartphone offerings. As such you leave me with a difficult decision where none should exist.

I am a long time fan of the “Palm” operating system. I was a Palm Pilot evangelist back in the day. I faithfully pursued every new Palm device that hit the market until the operating system was finally laid to rest and became the webOS that we see today. Yours is the only smartphone platform that would make me consider changing cellular carriers; if only you could provide me with compelling hardware choices.

Why would you create such an incredible tablet only to fail to close the gap in the smartphone race with more choices? Only you know, but I beg you to expand your smartphone line to include devices with larger screens and both physical and touchscreen keyboards. Only then do I believe that your mobile ecosystem will be complete.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

P.S. – If these devices are already on their way just nod and wink, I’ll understand.

But is the iOS the right mobile platform for pharmacy? I’m sure there are many people throughout healthcare that would argue that it is. I myself am a fan of the Android OS and would argue that it is actually a better fit for the simple reason that the platform lends itself to open development while the iOS has been largely closed to outside thought. In other words Mr. Jobs wants you to do it his way or no way, and that’s fine if you’re ok with that. I’m not. Of course you could argue that the iOS is the way to go and I couldn’t prove you wrong. At this point it’s a personal decision.

I use the Android OS as my personal mobile operating system of choice. I’ve found that it meets most, if not all of my needs. While I believe it is a better option for pharmacy than the iOS, I do not think it is the best option. Instead I find myself increasingly intrigued by the webOS, which offers some very interesting features.

The most recent version of the webOS, webOS 2.0 or HP webOS as I’ve seen it called, offers a user interface that in my opinion is second to none. The unique card view and stack features offered by webOS create an incredibly flexible multi-taking user experience. Combined with the ‘Just Type’ universal search feature and you have a powerful mobile platform capable of a great many things. The unfortunate reality is that the webOS has remained in relative obscurity and is currently available on a limited number of devices. The BlackBerry Playbook appears to borrow from the webOS with its similar user interface, but we won’t know the full extent of the functionality of that device for a while longer. We may see something more from the HP webOS tablet, but we’ll have to wait until 2011 to find out.

Check out the video below for more detailed information on webOS 2.0. You can’t help but be impressed by the functionality, beauty and usability of it all.

The card metaphor used by the webOS could benefit pharmacists by providing quick and easy access to several applications simultaneously. I can imagine pulling up drug information, patient records, a couple of websites, etc and quickly swipping through them to find what I’m looking for. This appears to be a better option than either the iOS or Android OS at this point. If HP would only expand the device offereings to include 5-inch, 7-inch and 10-inch screens, I believe you could have a healthcare device with extreme usability and functionality.

With all that said, at the moment there is no perfect mobile platform for pharmacists. The best operating system for use in healthcare is still the Windows OS, but it’s simply not well designed for use on mobile devices. That may change with Windows Phone 7, but it’s too early to tell. I don’t know if Microsoft will ever catch up with Apple or Google in terms of impact on the mobile computing market, but I would never count them out. Even though the webOS is probably the best option as a mobile paltform I currently have no plans to make a change. Until HP gives the end user signficantly more hardware choices I think they’ll be stuck at the back of the bus.

Just a thought.

First, all the tablets listed were slate models and offered a variety of screen sizes. The smallest screen listed was 7 inches, while the largest was listed at 12 inches. Screen size is important to me so I was glad to see that the idea of larger devices wasn’t completely dead. The second thing was the variety of operating systems offered. Windows 7 and Android were prominent, but a couple of the tablet descriptions didn’t include an operating system. Based on the screen shots and a little web surging it appears that some of the devices may use proprietary operating systems. We’ll have to wait and see. And finally, almost all the tablets listed were clearly aimed at the consumer. In fact the only “enterprise” tablet that made the list was the Cisco Cius. The Cius is an interesting device as it will use the Android OS, a smaller 7 inch screen, 802.11n, 3G and 4G, and Bluetooth. I’m sure the company is hoping to leverage its VoIP and data systems against the needs of business users. In my opinion the Cius would provide significant functionality and potential for increased productivity to those businesses that already employ Cisco phone or data services. It makes sense to integrate tablets into a system that already uses the same infrastructure.

The two tablets that were conspicuously absent from the list were the BlackBerry PlayBook and the HP Slate which are both being marketed as enterprise devices. I love the idea of the PlayBook because it offers real-time video conferencing like the Cius and the ability to pair it with a BlackBerry smartphone to access online content. The potential to tether a smartphone to a tablet is quite appealing to me.

So, what does this mean for healthcare? Honestly it means very little. While I’m a big fan of both the slate tablet and the Android OS I’m not sure that either will fit the needs of many practitioners. Availability of applications is growing rapidly for Android devices, but the iPad has firmly entrenched itself among many healthcare providers, especially physicians. And once something becomes entrenched in healthcare it takes a lot to dislodge it. Another issue I see with the new crop of tablets is the screen size. I prefer more screen real estate than many of the devices mentioned above offer. Seven inches seems to be the target for many of the device manufactures on the list, but you would have to give me a compelling reason for going smaller rather than bigger. I have a smartphone when I want extreme portability. I want more from a tablet.

I’m not sure what drives the 7-inch platform, but something must have pushed the manufacturers in that direction. As a pharmacist I’d like to see a 12-inch slate tablet for use on the floor. As healthcare software vendors have yet to optimize their software for touch, that extra screen comes in handy for viewing complex patient records. The only device on the Laptop Magazine list with a 12-inch screen was the ASUS Eee Pad EP121, which brings me to another sticky point, Windows 7. The Windows OS is probably the best operating system for use in healthcare because all current legacy applications for healthcare are built around the Windows environment. However, Windows 7 is not optimized for use on a touchscreen device, especially a small touchscreen. I find this odd as Windows has been hammering on the idea of the tablet as a computing platform for well over a decade. If you spend a little time reading online reviews of the Windows slates that are starting to pop-up, you will find that the reviewers often times have good things to say about the hardware, but are typically critical of the Windows operating system. For a perfect example of what I’m talking about see the GBM InkShow featuring the HP Slate. After talking about the great build of the device and some of the coolness of it, the reviewer touches on the problems with the Windows 7 environment (around the 9-minute mark in the video).

Microsoft is uniquely qualified to improve the tablet experience, but for some inexplicable reason hasn’t decided to do so. As I’ve said before “I think vendors simply try to cram too much functionality into mobile software or try to create an exact replica of the desktop. In my opinion it would be better to take the most frequently used functions, make it brain-dead simple to use and scrap the rest.” Until they do, end-users will continue to look for alternatives such as the iPad, Android OS tablets, the BlackBerry PlayPad and the ever-talked-about-but-yet-to-be-seen mythical HP webOS device.

I’m still waiting for the perfect slate tablet to emerge from the fog. I think Samsung is quickly taking the lead, but we’ll have to wait until 2011 to get a clear picture of where the market is headed. Until then I will stick with a convertible tablet PC running Windows 7. It works for me.

- I’ve mentioned Pixel Qi technology many, many times on this blog. I still don’t know when we will see a commercial product using the technology, but according to Engadget the Pixel Qi 10.1-inch display can be purchased as a kit and placed in your netbook if you’re up to the challenge. Cool, I love weekend projects. Update: The first batch of Pixel Qi kits is sold out. Bummer.

- In a press release on July 1, HP announced that they have completed their acquisition of Palm. This is very exciting news as it means the WebOS isn’t quite dead yet. And here’s the best part, “Palm will be responsible for webOS software development and webOS based hardware products, from a robust smartphone roadmap to future slate PCs and netbooks.” Let’s hope it doesn’t take too long to develop a slate PC using the WebOS.

- TUAW: “Oklahoma State University is the latest school to start setting students up with iPads. Starting this fall, a pilot program will give iPads to 125 students, and the university will monitor both how the device affects their learning and what their textbook costs turn out to be.” – It was bound to happen sooner or later. I wonder if any pharmacy schools will start “recommending” that their students purchase an iPad. It happened with the iPhone/iPod Touch. I suppose I can see the logic with a decision like this as the iPad really does make a nice device for carrying around thousands of pages of text in a compact package. In addition, it is well suited for video learning as well as entertainment, which we all know college students need. You can find more information on the pilot program here.

- From the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association “The results of our study [looking at scope, completeness, and accuracy of information found on osteosarcoma in Wikipedia] demonstrate that the quality of osteosarcoma-related information found in the English Wikipedia is good but inferior to the patient information provided by the NCI. Therefore, non-peer-reviewed commonly used websites offering health information, such as Wikipedia, should include links to more definitive sources, such as those maintained by the NCI and professional international organizations on healthcare treatments.” – I’ve said it before many times, Wikipedia is not a good resource for healthcare information.

- According to EMR Daily News financial incentives provided by the stimulus package should help boost the use of handheld computers in the healthcare industry. This makes sense as everyone is trying to figure out a way to go paperless. The only real way to do that is to go mobile , and that’s where smartphones, tablet PCs and devices like the iPad come in. The information at EMR Daily News is from a report at Kalorama Information called “Handhelds in Healthcare: The World Market for PDAs, Tablet PCs, Handheld Monitors & Scanners.” If you want to read the entire report it can be yours for the low, low price of $3995. Anyone just happen to have an extra copy lying around? No. Didn’t think so.

- Amazon has a new version of the Kindle DX . It’s available for pre-order now and should ship sometime around July 7. The new DX looks pretty snazzy. I’ve always liked the Kindle DX because it has a large screen, free 3G for downloading books, is easy on the eyes and only needs to be charged about once a week. I’m considering it.

- At least one person believes the Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad can exist in harmony. According to Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com “It’s really a different product category”. I would agree.

- “Shouldn’t we have have a single set of evidence-based rules that everyone in the country can use?” – John D. Halamka, MD, Life As A Healthcare CIO blog. Halamka is speaking specifically about rules designed for clinical decision support (CDS) systems. The simple answer is yes, we should have a single set of rules that everyone can use. According to the post, Anvita Health is working on a solution. ASHP has a similar initiative in one of their Pharmacy Informatics Section Advisory Groups (SAG). CDS systems are important pieces of technology that are often overlooked in the overall scheme of things.

- Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) is taking a beating lately. Healthcare IT News is reporting that a 2010 report from KLAS “finds that only 14 percent of all U.S. hospitals have achieved the expected 10 percent CPOE level required for stage 1 of meaningful use.” And John Poikonen over at RxInformatics posted on a report from The Leapfrog Group that “The simulations found that the hospitals’ CPOE systems on average failed to detect half of the routine medication orders and one-third of potentially fatal orders.” Look, it’s pretty simple. Build a crappy system and you’ll get crappy results. Build a great system and you’ll get great results. So, don’t build crappy system.

- If you want to know what’s going on with Android based devices be sure to check out Android Central. The site has lots of good information, including a podcast.

- Here’s neat video: The Apple Museum – 30 years in 2 minutes. The laptop development is particularly interesting.

- “It’s fun to watch the Android crowd talk about how stupid the iPhone crowd is, it really is. But, the iPhone is still the better consumer device.” Opinion from my brother, Robert, a true Apple fanboy. If you want to see what the average Apple fanboy mentality is watch this video on YouTube. Caution, the language in the video is pretty bad and there are lots of “f-bombs”.

- Speaking of the EVO vs. iPhone 4 video, it looks like the kid that made it might lose his job over the whole thing. Apparently the kid works at Best Buy and they didn’t like what he had to say. I’ve watched the video several times and can’t find a single reference to Best Buy. That just doesn’t seem right. Boo to you Best Buy.

- The official YouTube blog has a great article on Flash and the HTML5 video tag. It’s a very interesting read.

- CrunchGear has a basic review of the Viliv N5 Ultra Mini Mobile PC. This a great looking little device. Many people think I’m crazy, but the mini-clamshell design is something that’s needed. It fills a niche that the HP Jornada 720 series and the NEC MobilePro 900 series had cornered many years ago. Nothing beats a keyboard for text input.

- I don’t often use this blog to express my personal thoughts, but I think it is necessary today. So please feel free to skip this paragraph if you’re here for my normal rhetoric. On a serious note, my grandpa passed away this week after a short battle with cancer. He would have been 83 years old today, July 2, and he will be missed more than you can imagine. He was my father figure for the most impressionable years of my life as I was raised by him and my grandma due to some unfortunate circumstances. He taught me to love God, family and country and everything else would take care of itself. These lessons weren’t given in word, but in action and I try to live by them every day as he did. He always gave of himself, even at the end. His life should be celebrated as he touched more lives than one could have thought possible and had a positive impact on everyone that ever had the pleasure of meeting the man. We could all learn something from him. He was a tough man, but not hard. A heavy equipment mechanic and welder his entire life, he continued to work until just a few weeks prior to his death. You just can’t keep a good man down, which he demonstrated over and over again throughout his life. Someone told me last night that I was blessed to have had him as long as I did. I couldn’t agree more.

Have a great 4th of July everyone and be safe. Eat lots off BBQ and ice cream and have fun.

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.

The Palmdoc Chronicles

How usable is it as an smartphone for doctors? Well I can say it pretty much does replace your old PalmOS device as it is. One of the cool features of the old Palm PDAs is the ability to keep snippets of information in the Memos (Notes) in various categories for instant recall. These notes may be protocols, clinical pearls or practically any bits of information which you want to look up while rounding for instance.

WebOS’ builtin “post-it” type Memos is ok if you are keeping about 10-20 notes but pretty useless if you are talking about 300-500 notes or more. There are several solutions at hand which overcome this limitation.”

The blog goes on to describe a few applications that can be used to create a peripheral brain out of the Palm Pre smartphone. One of these applications is the ever popular Evernote, which I use daily on my tablet PC as well as my Droid.

The information presented at the Palmdoc Chronicles isn’t restricted to the Palm WebOS. The iPhone, Motorola DROID, RIM BlackBerry devices, and a host of other smartphones are capable of storing memos, notes, PDFs and numerous other forms of information documentation.

The idea of using a PDA as a peripheral brain isn’t new. Felkey and Fox ¹ were talking about it back in 2002 when the precursor to the Palm WebOS was popular among healthcare professionals. It’s interesting how the idea is as good today as it was nearly a decade ago.

1. Felkey BG, Fox BI. PDA interface: Creating the Digital Peripheral Brain. Hosp Pharm. 2002; 37:1222-1224

- Avatar was #1 at the box office last weekend. My family and I saw it on Saturday night (12/19) and it was great. If you plan on seeing it, make sure you do it on the big screen.

- John Poikonen posted a quick blog about PharmaSURVEYOR, which is an online drug side effect analyzer. It’s an interesting concept, but as John warns “It is a bit alarmist in nature, so I would be worried about over interpretation of the results.” For example, I entered Prilosec OTC and Tylenol and it gave me a life threatening risk of agranulocytosis. While theoretically possible, I suppose, I certainly wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.

- HIT Consultant: “Ontario’s privacy commissioner has launched an investigation after a USB drive containing the personal health information of more than 80,000 people, who went to flu clinics in Durham Region — just north of Toronto — went missing.” – Ooops! This is why you don’t store confidential information on any type of “local” device; another good reason why cloud storage is appealing. I realize people worry about cloud breaches, but at least the cloud won’t fall out of your pocket.

- KLAS has listed their best in software awards. The best software for pharmacy was identified as Epic Willow. Bummer, we don’t use Epic.

- I’m a big fan of RFID technology, which made this post at Engadget very interesting. Check out the “Rfiddler” gun that disables RFID tags. Looks like fun.

- UMPC Portal: “There are huge physical and software issues for tablet PC designers to overcome and through our experience with UMPCs over the last 3 years it’s easy to see that the Archos 9 doesn’t really solve them. The problem for the Archos 9 however is that it neither hits the mark as a consumer tablet or as a niche ultra-mobile productivity device for UMPC fans. It’s too heavy and too slow, doesn’t shine as a media player due to lack of storage, software and online media support. It doesn’t shine as a productivity device due to the lack of keyboard and doesn’t shine as a mobility device due to weight and lack of 3G.” – This is an unfortunate development as I was very excited about the Archos 9 tablet. It was on my list of must-haves until I read the review. Hey look at the bright side that means I still have an open slot on my must-haves list.

- Based on the review of the Archos 9 tablet my next best hope may be the JooJoo. Engadget has photos and a video of the JooJoo. It’s a great concept, I only hope the application is as good.

- ComputerWorld: “Mike Elgan: Hello, tablets. Good-bye, netbooks! Seven trends are conspiring to usher in a tsunami of tablets — and sink netbooks.” – While I like what Mike has to say about tablet PCs, I don’t see netbooks dying out any time soon. We just purchased a netbook for my youngest daughter and I love it. Err, I mean she loves it. They’re light, equipped to handle internet surfing and inexpensive. You can even get the best of both worlds with the Eee PC T91. Don’t count netbooks out just yet.

- FierceMobileHealthcare: “Yes, PHR usage is minimal; approximately 3 percent of Americans actually use one, according to Forrester Research. But that hasn’t discouraged numerous companies from developing PHRs, particularly for mobile phones. The smart ones are targeting their products to patients with chronic conditions.” – The healthcare industry wants people to start using PHRs for various reasons, but healthcare has to develop a standardized EHR first. The development of PHRs is much more likely if you were to walk into your physicians office and handed a link, user name and password to your medical records. PHRs should be like a blood pressure cuff; there are many models, but they all basically work the same.

- GottaBeMobile.com: “For touch users, I’d like to see Microsoft’s left hand quit foiling what its right hand wants to do by either getting rid of Windows 7 Starter Edition, or include the Touch and Pen bits relegated to Starter Edition.” – Amen. I never understood why you would build something so robust and then cripple it.

- FT.com/techblog: “Apple is expected to use the venue to make a major product announcement on Tuesday, January 26th. Both YBCA and Apple declined to comment. Speculation that Apple is preparing to introduce a new tablet style computer has been building all year, and other reports now suggest the tablet will make its debut in January.” – I never thought I’d say this, but I’m getting a little sick and tired of Apple. They’re playing dirty little games that are quite frankly, beneath them. They leak rumors about their tablet all year long, wait until everyone has purchased their Apple Christmas gifts, and then announce their tablet; not very nice. I think I’m going to re-dedicate myself to other platforms. With Android finally taking shape that is a real possibility.

- Check out the concept tablet designs at Yanko Design. Would someone just make these things already!

- The Palmdoc Chronicles: “Imagine if Palm had a WebOS tablet, this would mean that WebOS would be available to anyone who already has a phone and wanted to try out the new platform. They can keep their carrier and current plan. They can download apps from the Palm App Catalog as well as run their existing PalmOS Apps in Classic.” – Palmdoc hits the nail on the head with this post. I’ve wanted this for years; not the necessarily the WebOS of course, but the Palm OS in general. WebOS offers many of the features that are appealing to fans of Android tablets. Too bad it will probably never happen. Anyone interested in building one with me? It must be possible.

- I’ve mentioned this before, but the Microsoft Surface blog has an updated video showing gameplay with D&D on Surface. Incredible, simply incredible.

The top ten searchphrases that brought people to my site this week:

1. meditech 6.0 emr
2. jerry fahrni
3. new lcd technology
4. lexi comp droid
5. jaansun capsule machine
6. lexicomp droid
7. micromedex for droid
8. cloud computing in pharmacy
9. free pharmacy apps for ipod touch
10. medboard medication tracking [tied with] lexi droid

It is interesting to see that five of the top ten searches have to do with smartphones and/or mobile devices, which begs the question, “Are smartphones a viable platform for pharmacy?” I smell a blog post coming on.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Let me know if I missed any. Also feel free to comment on your favorite.

Mobile:

Lexi-Comp – Available for the Palm OS, webOS (in beta), Windows Mobile, i.e. Pocket PC, BlackBerry, Mobile browser based support for Internet Explorer, Safari Mobile, Opera Mobile 8.65 and higher and Opera Mini 4.1 (to verify your mobile browser is compatible with the MOBILE site, please visit http://m.lexi.com/test within the browser on your device), and the iPhone. Lexi-Comp is the king of mobile drug information resources and definitely the most respected among drug information professionals, i.e. pharmacists. It’s a little pricey, but worth it.

Epocrates – Available for the iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm (not webOS), WinMobile and Windows Smartphones. – Epocrates is available as free or paid service. This drug information resource is popular among nurses and physicians. Most pharmacists I know have it on their mobile device because it’s free, but will reach for Lexi-Comp if given the choice.

Clinical Pharmacology OnHand for Pocket PC and Palm – Fee for service and I’ve never used it.

Thomson Clinical Xpert (mobileMICROMEDEX ) – You can probably count this one out as it is only available for the Palm and Pocket PC operating systems. I’ve used it on a Palm device and it was nothing to write home about.

Skyscape – Several offerings like AHFS for many platforms including Android, BlackBerry, iPhone/iPod Touch , Palm OS, Symbian (Nokia), and Windows Mobile/Pocket PC/Smartphone. Skyscape offers a free version of their drug information resource for the iPhone/iPod touch. The UI is clunky and it won’t replace Lexi-Comp or Epocrates, but it’s worth having as a secondary reference. One thing I find interesting about the Skyscape website is their separation of PharmD and Pharmacist into two different user categories.  What exactly do these guys think a PharmD is anyway?

PEPID – Available for the Palm OS, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and iPhone. PEPID stands for Portable Emergency Physician Information Database and is designed as a reference for emergency personnel. Not comprehensive drug information, but again, worth having.

Medscape offers a free drug information app for the iPhone/iPod touch. It includes a drug interaction checker, medical news and CME for physicians. However, the best feature is the Pharmacy directory. Take a look at the image to the right. I put my home zip code into the find pharmacy feature of the Medscape app and it threw up several nearby pharmacies. Cool.

Online:

Lexi-Comp ONLINE with AHFS – The de facto standard for drug information resources. The facility I’m currently in offers only a piece of the Lexi-Comp online references as part of our UpToDate subscription (a great medical reference in its own right). I’ve used Lexi-Comp in other facilities that I’ve worked in and it is fantastic.

MICROMEDEX – I’m not quite sure why, but this seems to be the drug information resource for most hospitals. I’ve used it at the last three hospitals I’ve worked in and have never been impressed with it. Maybe it’s widely used because it was one of the first online drug information resources available. In that case, it’s just another example of the healthcare industry being afraid of change.

Facts & Comparisons – We had a 30 trial of the online version of Facts & Comparisons. It offered various clinical calculators, an easy search interface, separate black box warning information, and so on. Facts & Comparisons was really quite good and I would definitely recommend it as an alternative to MICROMEDEX.

Epocrates – Offers both free and “premium” packages for online drug information, although its real claim to fame is the mobile version.

Clinical Pharmacology OnHand – Requires subscription and I’ve never used it.

PEPID Online – Geared toward the emergency provider.

The Palm Pre is a great device to use as a peripheral brain for pharmacists because it allows you to keep several applications open at once. That’s a nice feature to have when you need to access something quickly.

The one thing I would ask Palm to do to improve the Pre is offer a form of the device in the image of the HTC HD2 with its massive screen. The screen on the current Pre is just a tad bit small for my taste. Even better would be if Palm would offer the device without 3G service like the iPod Touch. It’s just a thought.