New Releases for Medicine and Some Questions

Over the past 2 months, there have been a few newly released programs for the Palm Pilot. I have chosen to look at two interesting programs which have caught my attention. However I do caution that I have not tried any of these new releases mentioned and they are listed for informational purposes only.

I have a few questions which I will pose to the companies writing the programs, mainly concerning the compatibility with the Lifedrive.



Davis's Drug Guide with Auto-Updates
Publisher: Unbound Medicine.

- This program will reportedly ship with a total of 9 indices, 16 appendices and include a collection of lab values and dose calculations. Life threatening side effects are visually enhanced for quick reference. In addition, the company states that it will cover almost 5,000 drugs plus herbals in its database.

- Update via wireless, internet or hotsync (connected to the internet).

- Winner of the Handango Best Industry Application Award.

- Price point: 49.95.




Obstetrics Gynecology & Infertility, 5th Edition
Publisher USBMIS.

- This is an interesting title and is supposedly able to cover information for both immediate bedside care and subspecialty information in Maternal-Fetal Medicine and other GYN subspecialties. The company reports that the program contains over 200 tables, flowcharts and figures. Information is bookmarked and it is possible to examine operative reports "for support information."

- Attention is paid to the beginner's medical Spanish section. I wish I had this a few years ago :).

- Price point 29.00






Discussion:

Although I have not purchased any of the above yet, I think that both have tremendous potential. A few of my peers have been using the Davis product and they have enjoyed the information provided. Additionally, many have compared it to Epocrates and believe that it is faster and more robust because it has none of Epocrates additonal software. If you own a Lifedrive, this could be especially critical. I could not find out if the Davis product is completely loadable on an SD card. It states that it is SD card compatible, but caution that 6mb of memory is needed on the handheld.

The product has a 5,000 drug database, which I presume is kept in the PDA memory and hence accounts for the speed of the product; however I do have a few questions. Since none of my partners own a Lifedrive it is difficult for them to answer. One question would be the upgrade cycle. Davis offers a 12 month update cycle for the initial payment. What happens after that?
Secondly, the authors are Pharmacists. Believe me, I love my Pharmacist, without them I would be in trouble, but I have a question about how much detail will they provide -- as in too much detail about a specific drug. One of the advantages --and perhaps disadvantages-- of Epocrates is that the information is concise and to the point. Perhaps to the point of leaving out very important information, but I can get an answer very quickly without going through minutiae. But I cannot knock a product until I use it and I probably will purchase this, given its glowing reviews and the fact that I will not have to Hotsync to update.

USBMIS's product is enticing. I like the apparently concise renditions shown on the website. Apparently quick reference functions and charts are easily accessed through a minimum tree system. And the price point appears very interesting. This is one that I could see myself purchasing very soon, but I would love to see a few reviews first.

Again is the question of the updates. USBMIS gives 12 months of updates, with "free" usage of the program without updates following this. Obviously unknown is whether another subscription is needed to get any new updates to the program.

Secondly, the card issue is somewhat ambiguous again. " 17MB of available memory (additional main memory may be needed when installed to memory card*)" ??? If I am reading this correctly are they saying that the main elements of the program have to be transferred to main memory and then erased again? 17 mb is a lot of memory, even for a Lifedrive. You are certain to run into the "last 32mb vortex" (This is a veritable Bermuda Triangle for the Lifedrive where programs which are not written correctly to address the memory access give the Lifedrive the proverbial "clink.....grey screen" or Soft Reset).

However, this is one program that I will try, since it sounds very useful and the price point appears competitive. Naturally, I will let you know how this turns out.


LDD.