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SmartPhones and PDAs

  • SMPH Recommendations
  • iPhone Apps
  • Palm OS/Other Mobile Apps

Recommendations from the School of Medicine & Public Health

The UW School Of Medicine & Public Health recommends that students acquire a PDA sometime during their second year. Many hospital residents and practicing physicians now use PDAs on a routine basis as an important resource for class schedules, patient care information and for data management and reference.

Recommended Software

Below is a list of recommended software, some of it will be an important part of your clinical years and used frequently, others will be reference, calculators, schedules, etc.

  • EpocratesRx (Free Version) palm osiPhone/iTouch compatiblewindows mobileblackberry
    Free mobile drug and formulary reference. Available for Palm, iPhone, Win Mobile/SmartPhone, and BlackBerry..
  • EpocratesEssentialspalm os iPhone/iTouch compatible windows mobile
    Integrated drug, disease, and diagnostic suite for mobile devices. Available for Palm, iPhone, and Win Mobile.
  • EpocratesMedical Dictionarypalm oswindows mobile
    Mobile guide to over 100,000 medical terms. Available for Palm and Win Mobile.
  • Essential Evidence Plus for PDA palm oswimobile
    A powerful electronic resource packed with all of the medical evidence you need to make critical patient care decisions. Essential Evidence Plus features must-have content, tools, calculators, and daily email alerts for clinicians who deliver first-contact care. Available for Palm and Pocket PC.
  • Thompson Clinical Xpert (MICROMEDEX) palm os wimobile
    Evidence-based decision support tools for the Palm and Pocket PC.

Recommended Devices

tx handheld

Palm T|X handheld
+ 1GB SD Memory Card

The T|X handheld is recommended because of its large amount of internal memory (128MB) and its ability to connect to the internet through Wi-Fi. With the T|X handheld you will be able to store more programs, get updates for software, such as Epocrates®, and download email thoughWi-Fi.

The School of Medicine and Public Health currently only supports iPhone, iPod Touch, and Palm OS devices. However, many of the medical programs needed are also available for Windows Mobile & BlackBerry devices. See chart of device vs. software compatibility for more information.

 

SMPH Security Guidelines

  • In the interests of adhering to HIPAA rules, if you use your PDA to keep track of patient information you are expected to password protect your device. Password protection can be accessed through the preferences icon on your Palm®.
  • Password protection should always be active and set for 5 minutes or less. Your PDA should be set to turn off automatically within three minutes or less.
  • Synchronization of sensitive PDA Information with home computers. Please be cognizant when synchronizing patient and staff-related data on home computers.
  • Home Cable, DSL, and/or LAN users should have a Firewall security protection installed on their home computers.
  • Home computer users who have sensitive data on their PDAs are responsible for ensuring that the data is secure. Transfer of a home computer or PDA to another person necessitates erasing of all patient and staff-related data.

iPhone AppsiPod Touch Image from Apple

With the release of the new iPhone and now iPod Touch and the upgrade to version 3.x of the operating system there are some exciting possibilities for health related applications on this popular device. Take a look at the iPhone App Store (Apple iTunes required to access the Store; look under Medical, Healthcare & Fitness or Reference). You can also take a look at the Apple App Store page for more information without going into iTunes.

Starter Medical Applications:

  • ABG - A multipurpose medical calculator to: 1) Analyse arterial blood gasses 2) Output a recommended FIO2, given a determined pO2, FIO2 and a desired pO2 3) Perform hemodynamic calculations utilizing the Fick principle.
  • ABX Guide - a decision support tool intended to provide clinicians with concise, digested, timely information about the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases.
  • Breastfeeding - For nursing mothers, serves to remember from which breast the baby as latter drank.
  • Cardio Calc - Helpful tool to manage patients with cardiovascular disease or hyperlipidemia.
  • DoctorCalc
  • Drugs.com iPhone Edition for Healthcare Professionals
  • ePocrates Rx - drug and formulary reference
  • Eponyms (for students) - 1,600 medical eponyms (e.g., Rovsing's sign, Virchow's node) with descriptions.
  • HeartBeat - With this program you can measure your heart rate.
  • MedCalc - MedCalc is designed for rapid calculation of common equations used in clinical medicine (including anesthesiology, pediatrics, emergency, intensive care and internal medicine).
  • MediMath - 132 of the most important medical calculators and scoring tools in one package, updated frequently
  • Modality Apps - Board Review Flash Cards, Recalls, Netter's, Zollinger's, USMLE, and more.
  • Molecules - View 3-dimensional renderings of molecules and manipulate them using your finger
  • Skyscape Drug Information Products - large selection of mobile drug reference products
  • WebMD Mobile - Features a symptom checker, drug & treatment info, and a first aid section.

Starter Reference & Research Applications:

  • Papers - Your personal library of science, Papers puts your research literature database at your fingertips.
  • PubSearch & PubSearch Plus - A simple, efficient user interface with fast access to the PubMed database
  • WiscVPN - Access resources as if on a UW Madison internet connection.
  • WorldCat Mobile (Beta) - Search the collections of libraries worldwide from your mobile phone.

For More Ideas:


 

Palm OS Apps

Free (or inexpensive) medical software that you may find useful as reference tools. Mostly Palm OS, but additional platforms as noted.

  • ABG Propalm os
    Arterial Blood Gases Pro is a program that will completely analyze arterial blood gases.
  • ABX Guidepalm os iPhone/iTouch compatible windows mobileblackberry
    (ABX) Guide is a "decision support tool" intended to provide clinicians with concise, digested, timely information about the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases.
  • Breastfeedpalm os
    Breastfeed is an informational reference on multiple aspects of breastfeeding from Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition.
  • Diagnosaurus 2.0 DDx PDA Tool palm os windows mobileblackberry
    Features include: 1000+ differential diagnoses, search by disease, symptom, or organ system and derived from CURRENT Consult Medicine 2007.
  • Eponymspalm os
    Eponyms is a list of 1,600 common and obscure medical eponyms (e.g., Rovsing's sign, Virchow's node) with descriptions.
  • HeartBeat palm os
    With this program you can measure your heart rate.
  • Herbal Zone palm os
    Decision support for widely used herbals.
  • MedCalc palm os iPhone/iTouch compatible windows mobile
    Rapid calculation of common equations used in clinical medicine (including anesthesiology, pediatrics, emergency, intensive care and internal medicine).
  • Med Rules palm os
    MedRules is an award-winning application featuring useful clinical prediction rules taken from the medical literature. Older program (last updated 2003).
  • Medical Mnemonics palm os
    A searchable database of medical mnemonics designed to assist students in remembering medical information.
  • PalmEKG palm os
    PalmEKG is an Arrhythmia Field Guide for Your Palm Computer.
  • PregWheel palm os
    PregWheel is a simple medical utility program for use in obstetrics. Older program (last updated 2000).
  • PSI palm os pocket pc
    Pneumonia Severity Index Calculator: An interactive tool for the Pneumonia Severity Index from the Assessment of the Variation and Outcomes of Pneumonia.
  • Shots 2009 palm os pocket pc
    Quick reference guide to the Childhood Immunization Schedule. Details on each vaccine are available by clicking on the vaccine names.
  • WorldCat Mobile (Beta) palm os iPhone/iTouch compatible windows mobileblackberry
    The WorldCat Mobile pilot project allows you to search the collections of libraries worldwide from your mobile phone.

Mobile Application Sources

  • CollectiveMed palm oswinmobileblackberry
    Select from hundreds of applications for Palm, BlackBerry, and Pocket PC.
  • MEDSPDA palm winmobile
    Many titles to choose from, including Netter's Anatomy, Davis's Drug Guide, and Clinical Cardiology. Browse by category or speciality. Available for Palm and Pocket PC.
  • Palm Software Storepalmwinmobile
    Browsing the store requires installation of the free mobile software available for Win Mobile and Palm OS.
  • PDA MediSoft palm winmobileblackberrysmartphone
    Medical and health software downloads for Palm, Win Mobile, BlackBerry, and Win SmartPhone.
  • Software Advice (Medical) palm
    Medical Software Advice is a free online resource that helps physicians find PDA software for their practices.
  • Skyscape Drug Information ProductsiPhone/iTouch compatiblepalm winmobileblackberrysmartphone
    Offers a large selection of mobile drug reference products, including popular titles like AHFS Drug Information. Prices range from about $15 - $100 depending on product and platform.
  • Unbound Medicine iPhone/iTouch compatiblepalm winmobileblackberrysmartphone
    Healthcare applications for a variety of mobile platforms, includes popular titles like 5-minute Clinical Consult, Stedman's Medical Dictionary and The Merck Manual.
Page last updated: October 14, 2009 Questions or suggestions? Contact Adrian Gay