Epocrates offering an Early EHR Adopter Special

Epocrates recently announced the launch of Epocrates EHR—the system designed with physician input specifically for small practices!

They are offering an Early EHR Adopter Special to help users transition to electronic health records. Start using Epocrates EHR for just $179/month—a savings of over 55% compared to the regular subscription rate of $359/month (price is per paid seat and will change to $359/month on April 1, 2012).

To learn more, call 1-877-423-4980 or visit www.epocratesehr.com for more details or to purchase.

Graduating students can win an free iPod touch® loaded with Epocrates® Software

You won't want to miss this!

2010 Graduation Celebration! Win a Free iPod touch® Loaded with Epocrates® Software

Visit MedicalSmartphones.com for more details.

Testing Epocrates on the Droid

This is being republished from MedicalSmartphones.com

I've been testing Epocrates Rx (beta) on the Motorola Droid (running the Google Android OS) and my initial impressions are very positive. The Droid is a powerful smartphone running a super-fast 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, so the device is much faster than most smartphones, including the HTC Touch Pro2 or the iPhone 3GS. When you're browsing the web, content-heavy pages load very quickly. Google Maps with the spoken "turn-by-turn" navigation is also a great feature found on the Motorola Droid.

You can expect to see several future blog posts here on MedicalSmartphones.com as I test Epocrates on the Droid. As I test the software on Android, I'll blog about what I discover.

Today, I noticed that when I tap certain buttons, I'm not always getting the visual feedback that tells me that I touched an on-screen button. Normally, you'd see buttons change colors or change appearances when you touch it. This is a minor bug. Given that the software is still beta, this is not a big deal and I'm sure they'll fix those minor bugs when they release the final version.

Epocrates EHR – Coming this Fall

We know that Epocrates has already announced that they're developing an electronic health record (EHR). That announcement came out during HIMSS.

Well, I got this e-mail the other day from Epocrates and I thought I'd share it with my readers:

It's loyal subscribers like you who have helped Epocrates become the leader in developing easy to use, innovative, mobile clinical reference applications for the point of care. With your support, more than 900,000 healthcare professionals trust Epocrates' products to help improve patient care, make more confident prescribing decisions, and save time.

We are continually looking for new ways to help you use technology to run your practice more efficiently and are excited to announce the development of an Epocrates electronic health record . Uniquely designed to meet the needs of solo and small group practices, our innovative mobile and web-based EHR product will be:

•     Easy-to-use with minimal practice disruption
•     Affordable via a web-hosted, customizable offering
•     Accessible at the point of care (web or mobile device)

We plan to launch the product later this fall and look forward to keeping you informed about our progress. Sign up below to receive product development updates and other EHR information.

Sign up here:  http://www.epocrates.com/products/ehr/

Epocrates Rx for Android and webOS

This is being republished from: http://www.medicalsmartphones.com/

Have you tried Epocrates Rx on your Google Android or Palm webOS smartphone?  The software is currently beta and you won't get any updates, but it's stable and it runs well. You can view photos of pills, check for drug-drug interactions, and use important tables and calculators. 

I know that many physicians rely on Epocrates on a daily basis. Are you one of those users? I still remember when Epocrates launched its company in 1998 and when PDAs were starting to enter the medical industry. Those were simple days of grayscale Palm Pilots and AAA batteries. Now, we have a wide selection of powerful devices like the Motorola Droid and the Palm Pre.

Epocrates for Android and webOS

Make sure to ready my posts on MedicalSmartphones.com about recent updates with Epocrates. They have released beta versions of software for Google Android and Palm webOS. Visit: MedicalSmartphones.com and click here to read my posts about Epocrates.

Epocrates expanding their product line for the iPhone and iPod touch

Are you using Epocrates? Do you have an Apple iPhone or iPod touch? You may be interested in this story on MedicalSmartphones.com:
Epocrates Essentials Deluxe for the iPhone and iPod touch

I've been using Epocrates for many years and it's great to see how they've continued to serve the medical community with their software.

Computerized Alerts Can Influence Drug Prescribing

Thanks to Epocrates for pointing me to these 2 interesting abstracts on computer-based decision support:

• The first one (published in the J Am Geriatr Soc.) is titled, "Computerized decision support to reduce potentially inappropriate prescribing to older emergency department patients: a randomized, controlled trial." The authors found that "Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) with decision support significantly reduced prescribing of potentially inappropriate medications for seniors."
  
• The second one (published in the J Gen Intern Med.) is, "Reducing the prescribing of heavily marketed medications: a randomized controlled trial." The authors found that "Computerized decision support is an effective tool to reduce the prescribing of heavily marketed hypnotic medications in ambulatory care settings."

In the future, we will be bombarded with automated drug safety alerts since almost every drug will have major safety warnings and potential drug-drug interactions. These alerts will be especially important when we're treating older adults who are often taking multiple medications. Do you use CPOE? If you don't right now, you can plan on using it within the next few years. Hospitals will become so digital that we'll see more computers than paper everywhere.

Here are the links for the abstracts:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19549022
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19475459

Epocrates on the BlackBerry Storm

Last month, I had the opportunity to use a BlackBerry Storm as my own smartphone. I installed several medical applications (apps) on it, but I was quickly disappointed by the fact that it only has 120 MB (not GB, but MB) of memory for apps. It has plenty of storage space (thanks to an 8 GB storage card), but I need space for applications, not for things like MP3 files and videos. I quickly filled up that 120 MB of space and that was one of the reasons why I ended up returning it to Verizon.

Of course, I installed Epocrates to see how it would run on the BlackBerry Storm. I was very impressed by the way it operated and I noticed that Epocrates was always running in the background, even after a reboot (which took over 5 minutes!). Epocrates was fast and responsive and I think it ran really well on the BlackBerry Storm. Unfortunately, you're currently limited to Epocrates Rx or Rx Pro. You can't get Epocrates Essentials for BlackBerry right now.

You can read about my initial impressions of the BlackBerry Storm here at MedicalSmartphones.com.

I returned the BlackBerry Storm to Verizon Wireless and I have no regrets. I'm back to Windows Mobile (now running 6.5) and I'm sure that the BlackBerry hardware and operating system will continue to improve over the next year. The Storm 2 is coming out this fall and the price on the current Storm is very low ($50). I really hope that the Storm 2 has much more space devoted to apps.

If you're a healthcare professional and you're using a BlackBerry Storm, you've probably loaded Epocrates. What else are you running on your BlackBerry?

To keep up with all my smartphone discussions, visit: http://www.medicalsmartphones.com

Read about Epocrates on the BlackBerry

Read my post on MedicalSmartphones.com about Epocrates on the BlackBerry: Epocrates on the BlackBerry

Free Epocrates Rx PRO

Well, if you recently purchased a BlackBerry then you may qualify for this great deal Free Epocrates Rx PRO through BlackBerry

Medical Software for the BlackBerry Storm

With all the recent buzz about the BlackBerry Storm 2 (which won't have the clickable SurePress screen), I've been inundated with questions about medical software for the BlackBerry Storm. Why do I get so many questions? Because I also author the site: http://www.medicalsmartphones.com

There are several options for physicians, medical students, nurses, and pharmacists who are looking for medical software for their BlackBerry Storm. Let me start by highlighting 3 of those:

• The first is Epocrates. Epocrates is a great free mobile drug and formulary reference. I've been using it for many years.
• Now, if you're willing to spend some money, then you could also use PEPID.
• Finally, QxMD is also free. Great for medical calculators.

There are obviously others and I'll be highlighting them in future posts.

Finally, don't forget about this special offer: Free Epocrates Rx PRO through BlackBerry

Top Posts for April 2009

Here were the top posts for April 2009:

1. Jobs for Physicians with No Residency Experience

2. Non-Clinical Careers and Opportunities for Physicians

3. Using the iPhone or iPod Touch in Healthcare

4. Tragic Story: Philip Markoff, the Craigslist Killer?

5. FREE Epocrates Cardiology through Cardiosource

Epocrates has a Surprise Waiting for iPhone Users!

I can't say much more. If you're an iPhone user, wait to hear about some exciting developments from the folks at Epocrates. I've been a long-time Epocrates user and I'm glad to see that they're keeping up with all the different smartphone platforms.

FREE Epocrates Cardiology through Cardiosource

Are you a member of the ACC (American College of Cardiology)? Do you use Cardiosource? You may be happy to know that Epocrates and Cardiosource have joined forces up to provide a FREE one-year, one-time subscription to Essentials for Cardiology. Visit Cardiosource and look for the information about Epocrates by clicking here. More and more physicians are abandoning Palm and Pocket PC/Windows Mobile and moving to the iPhone and BlackBerry, so it's great to have Epocrates for these mobile devices.

Using the iPhone or iPod Touch in Healthcare

The Apple iPhone and iPod Touch are versatile devices that can be used in the healthcare setting. Can you think of more than 15 ways they can be used? If you're a medical student or a resident, maybe you can empty your white coat and replace some of your tools with this single device. Here's my list of 15 ways:

1. Epocrates (drug reference)
2. Web browsing (research)
3. Record patient data
4. 2-way communication with others (get rid of those pagers!)
5. Neuro/rehab tests and exercises (use the built-in accelerometer and improve your gait)
6. Visual acuity tests and exercises
7. Vibratory stimulation test (no need for that bulky tuning fork)
8. Auditory test (can you hear that high-pitched sound?)
9. Reflex hammer? Maybe, if you're really talented.
10. Take a photo of that rash or wound (great for surgery and dermatology)
11. Flash cards
12. Anatomy reference (try ADAM)
13. As a phone to answer your pages (if you still carry a pager)
14. As a flashlight in your call room
15. To watch Scrubs, ER, or other educational medical TV shows.
16. Medical podcasts, earn CME/CE credits.

I could go on and on, but I was thinking about these things as I played around with my iPod. Can you add to this list?

Free Epocrates® Essentials for Medical Students – Download Days iPhone March 17-18, 2009

Free Epocrates® Essentials for Medical Students – Download Days iPhone March 17-18, 2009

If you're a US medical student, go here:
http://www.epocrates.com/downloaddays/

It's great to see Epocrates offering this 1-year license for free to medical students. Med students have enough student loans and books cost a fortune. So, anything that's free is generally warmly welcomed.

Medical Students and PDA SmartPhones

What percentage of 3rd and 4th year medical students have either a PDA or a mobile smartphone? I would guess that number is very high, especially since many schools now require it. They require students to carry a PDA (either running Palm OS or Windows Mobile) so they can record patient encounters, procedures, etc. Several years ago, the dominant operating system was the Palm OS. I'm not sure what the case is right now. Are medical schools developing software that is compatible for the new Palm OS (which will be running on the Palm Pre), RIM/BlackBerry, and Apple iPhone? I'd have to think that it makes more sense to make everything web-based. This way, you can have any device you want. Most hospitals have Wi-Fi, so as long as you can get connected, you can enter all your information. As the iPhone becomes more common among medical students, residents, and attending physicians, there is a growing need to develop medical software. Or, will everything become web-based? It's difficult to multi-task if all your applications are dependent on a web browser.

BlackBerry Storm and Medical Applications

It really is a shame. I've not seen many medical applications for the BlackBerry Storm. The iPhone has a growing number of medical applications that are currently available, but the paucity of apps for the BlackBerry Storm is truly sad. Having Epocrates just isn't enough. I suppose the folks at RIM weren't thinking about medical students and residents when they released the Storm.

The developers and marketers at Apple have the right idea - focus on education by creating the iTunes U (the U stands for University) and get students and professionals to use their iPhone or iPod touch to learn or to engage in continuing education. This is the right way to apply technology, innovation, and education to improve healthcare.

$4 Walmart on Epocrates

Yes, you can now get the national $4 Walmart formulary on Epocrates.