PDAs in the Health Sciences

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PDAs in the Health Sciences
Megan Fox Web Electronic Resources Librarian
fox_at_simmons.edu
JumpStart May 22, 2002
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PDAs will be as common as the stethoscope in
medicine in the future. Bob Trelease, UCLA Sc
hool of Medicine
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http//www.cbil.vcu.edu/mac/events/2001/mclendon.p
pt
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Quality of Care driving the market

• Contributing to medical mistakes are
• poor physician handwriting
• prescription errors due to wrong dosages or
  missing known drug allergies
  
• omitting an important treatment step
• inability to locate a chart
• lack of proper follow-up

Source National Institute of Medicine,
November 1999
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Physician PDA usage

• General use 15 1999, 26 2001
• Physicians under 45 33
• Physicians over 45 21
• Hospital based 33
• Office based 23
• Half of all docs will use by 2004-2005

Source HarrisInteractive Computing in the
Physicians Practice, Health Care News, August
15, 2001, page 1-2.
February, 2000 A survey at Mount Sinai Dept. of
Internal Medicine showed 60 attendings and 47
residents owned PDAs.
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• What are PDAs and handheld computers?
• Why use a PDA?
• What are PDAs most commonly used for?

Refer to this mornings presentation, PD What?
Available at http//web.simmons.edu/fox/PDA.html
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Why use a PDA?

• Mobility (On-the-go, 24/7 access, small, light)
  
  
•   Simplicity (Ease of use and understanding)
•   Versatility (Able to meet a variety of changing
  needs)
  
•   Functionality (Extensive applications)
• Easy interconnectivity (beam and sync to other
  users, desktop, network)
  
•   Organization (coordinates and consolidates
  schedules, tasks)
  
•   Low Cost (Extremely cost-effective relative to
  other forms of computer technology)

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Why PDAs in Health Care?
PDA is mobile PDA is light (average 8 oz) PD
A has longer battery life average 8 hrs
PC tethered Laptops heavy and cumbersome (avera
ge 7 lbs)
Laptop battery average 3 hrs
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Most Common PDA Applications

• Calendar/Date Book
• Keep daily reminders and appointments
• Set alarms with explanations attached
• Address Book/Phone Book
• Memos/Notes
• To do/Lists

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Health Care Applications

• Reference materials (journal summaries,
  mini-texts, etc Abbreviations, dictionaries,
  diagnosis, lab values, guidelines, protocols
  Drug Guides (ePocrates downloaded by 80,000
  physicians by 2000)
• Medical calculators
• Patient records/management
• Prescription writing
• Coding/billing

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Reference Material
Core drug handbooks and reference materials
updated more frequently that the print version
readily accessible all-in-one, searchable.

• Merck Manual
• Harrisons
• 5 Minute Consults
• Physicians Desk Reference
• Davis Drug Guides
• ePocrates

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Ebooks especially health textbooks and
reference books
http//nnlm.gov/gmr/newsletter/1/pdalist.pdf
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ePocrates

• Access complete information on over 400 bugs and
  400 drugs
  
• Search by location, bug, or drug
• Launch instantly from qID to qRx 4.0 and back for
  more comprehensive drug detail

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ePocrates

• Adult and Peds Dosing
• Adverse Reactions
• Contraindications
• Drug Interactions
• Mechanism of Action
• Package and Pricing Info
• Pregnancy/Lactation

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ePocrates
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Specialty Medical Calculators
Software designed and produced by clinicians
practical, frequently needed information and
calculations. Equations, conversions. Rapid,
reduces human error.

• MedCalc Freeware medical calculator sorted by
  category contains over 60 formulas
  
• PregCalc
• MedMath

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MedCalc
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Medical Calculators
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Medical News

• Journal summaries

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Electronic journals and Table of Contents
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Patient Management

• Reduce duplicate paperwork in the field, and
  transferred back at the office less repetition
  More accurate More organized

• PocketChart
• PocketMD
• HanDbase
• PatientKeeper
• Patient Tracker
• WardWatch

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Patient Management
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Prescription Writing

• iScribe prescription writing coding reference
  tool
  
• ePhysician
• AllScripts

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E-prescribing

• Western Journal of Medicine, Volume 172, Feb 2000

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E-prescribing

• Computerized order entry has repeatedly been
  shown to reduce prescription errors
  
• Point-of-care convenience for physician order
  entry is making e-prescriptions a viable and
  growing business

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• Billing and Coding

eMD2
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Putting it together
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PDA Projects in Academia
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• Medical Schools That Require Handhelds
• Wake Forest
• University of S. Florida
• University of S. Dakota
• Harvard
• East Carolina University
• UNC Chapel Hill

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University of North Carolina Health Sciences
Library
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http//www.library.vcu.edu/tml/bibs/pdabibliograph
y.html
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Syncing Stations
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Specific Library guides/how-to/instruction
resources
Duke University Medical Center Library
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Challenges

• Privacy/security - Patient confidentiality
• HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and
  Accountability Act of 1996) and PHI (Protected
  Health Information)
  
• Many of these resources are free whats the
  business model? Could the ultimate goal be to
  seek information to drug companies? How are/will
  they make money?
• The IT view of PDAs Who owns it, who maintains it

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Future

• Compatibility
• Convergence

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Presentation and links available
athttp//web.simmons.edu/fox/PDA.ppt
Megan Fox Web Electronic Resources Librarian
Simmons College fox_at_simmons.edu Jump Start,
May 22, 2002