What's in the web for family physicians - PDA medical software

Alfred KY Tang 鄧權恩

Epocrates
http://www2.epocrates.com/index.html

The well-known Drug and formulary reference for PDA from Epocrates is available for download free of charge at the website. It covers the latest drug and prescribing information of more than 3,300 brand and generic drugs, including dosage, adverse reactions, contraindications, drug interactions, pricing, mechanism of action, and a multiple-drug interaction checker. Also included in the package is the DocAlert messaging allowing up-to-date clinical and specialty news. MedMath is a collection of medical calculators, e.g. Body Mass Index, creatinine clearance etc. The recently launched MobileCME on-the-go learning system is another free service that allows CME activities to be conducted over the PDA platform.

American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
http://www.aafp.org/x433.xml

To cope with the expanding user population of PDA among primary care doctors, the AAFP website has developed a dedicated section on PDA. It addresses a lot of practical questions like why doctors need PDA, know more about PDA, where to find medical PDA software and articles, what the common clinical applications of PDA are, etc. Frequently Asked Questions on PDA usage and CME Resources for family physicians are also available at the website.

Florida State University Medical Library
http://med.fsu.edu/library/PDASoftware.asp

The PDA website of the Charlotte Edwards Maguire Medical Library has a good collection of links to different PDA medical resources on Internet. The links are classified into various categories like PDA software, PDA hardware, Instructional Sites, Software developers and Archive Sites. Review comments made on most of the listed sites make it particularly useful for PDA beginners. Another valuable resource at the website is a table listing popular PDA software (hyperlinked), supported operating system and pricing information.

Washington University Medical Palm Initiative (WUMPI)
http://medicine.wustl.edu/~wumpi/index.html

WUMPI aims to provide user support to the growing population of PDA users amongst students and physicians. PDA resources on Internet are well categorized and reviewed, which make them very useful for both novice and experienced PDA users. There are lists of links to software guides, vendor lists, program titles, as well as PDA buying guide and updated market information on hardware and accessories. The website also serves as a platform for exchange of information and experience amongst PDA users.

Guide to Antibiotics and Infectious Disease (the ABX Guide)
http://hopkins-abxguide.org

Maintained by John Hopkins University, the ABX Guide was designed to give physicians free and up-to-date information on antibiotics and their proper use. The database and clinical support system, founded on Internet since August 2000, was made available on PDA system including the Pocket-PC. One of its goals was to address concerns over antibiotic drug resistance and inappropriate drug prescribing habits. Emergency alerts, such as FDA recalls, can be "pushed" to all users as instant messages.

National Guideline ClearingHouse: Link to Clinical Guidelines to Handheld computers
http://www.guideline.gov/resources/pda.aspx

All the Guideline Summaries of the National Guideline ClearinghouseTM (NGC) are available in a text format downloadable to the PDA. Apart from the guidelines files, NGC has put up detailed instructions for downloading and viewing of the guidelines at the website. NGC has also prepared links to different guideline developer organizations who are offering PDA compatible download services. Some of the better known organizations include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association and American College of Cardiology.

American College of Physicians : PDA portal
http://www.acponline.org/pda/

A PDA portal is available at the website of the American College of Physicians. PDA beginners will find an online 90-minute streaming seminar on "Practical Applications of Hand Held Computers" particularly useful. It gives information on how PDA can be useful in clinical practice, where to find medical software, and basic trouble shooting techniques with PDA. Other CME materials available at the website include the PIER (Physicians' Information and Education Resource) database Clinical references, ACP books and other free CME resources. Practical directions on how to locate PDA medical software on Internet are also included.