Tuesday, November 27, 2007
HIPPA and PDA use in the workplace
SE How would HIPPA laws affect personal patient information stored in PDAs? Personal patient information such as name, date of birth, and medical/patient number would violate patient confidentiality, especially if the PDA device was lost or stolen. The use of password or encryption software with hand-held devices would need to be incorporated just like it is for desktop computers used in clinics and hospitals. Other institutional policies regarding hand-held devices would need to be incorporated. Nurses, physicians and pharmacists may need to have PDA's supplied to them by their employer instead of using their own hand-held device, especially if HIPPA rules apply and they are using it to access and enter clinical information for patients receiving care.
Medical dictionary software - Any suggestions?
SE Has anyone tried a medical dictionary software for their PDA that they really like and would recommend as a must have? Hardin Library currently does not have any free medical dictionary PDA downloads. I am looking for something that provides
a searchable glossary of medical terms including general medical terminology, medical devices, and medical abbreviations.
I found one freeware dictionary with the following specifications but have not downloaded anything onto my PDA:
Author = Free-Medical-Dictionary.com
OS = Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT 3.x, WinNT 4.x, Windows2000, WinXP, Windows2003
Date Released October 20, 2004
Filesize = 377 kB
Language = English
Install Support = Install and Uninstall
Requirements Internet Explorer 4.0 or newer
a searchable glossary of medical terms including general medical terminology, medical devices, and medical abbreviations.
I found one freeware dictionary with the following specifications but have not downloaded anything onto my PDA:
Author = Free-Medical-Dictionary.com
OS = Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT 3.x, WinNT 4.x, Windows2000, WinXP, Windows2003
Date Released October 20, 2004
Filesize = 377 kB
Language = English
Install Support = Install and Uninstall
Requirements Internet Explorer 4.0 or newer
Behaviors towards PDA use by pharmacy students
Siracuse, Mark., Sowell, John. and Musselman, Nicholas. Behavioral Intentions and Attitudes Towards the use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) by Pharmacy Students Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, San Diego, California, USA, Jul 05, 2006
SE Safety and efficacy seems to be primary reason why most students at the University of Iowa use their PDA's. A paper conducted out of the Creighton University College of Pharmacy, Omaha,NE, and presented last year at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy cites the prevelance of PDA use by pharmacy students. The paper referenced above mentions that out of 376 doctor of pharmacy students a majority of them, 81%, used it to look up drug information at least weekly and 43% used it for other schoolwork at least weekly. As stated in the article the implications are that: "Pharmacists and pharmacy students will increasingly find themselves needing to utilize hand held technology in their patient care activities. PDA usefulness, PDA ease of use and attitudes towards PDA use have the most influence on PDA use behavior."
This article would be an interesting read if it is published. Right now it has been submitted to the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education in June 2007 and is under review.
SE Safety and efficacy seems to be primary reason why most students at the University of Iowa use their PDA's. A paper conducted out of the Creighton University College of Pharmacy, Omaha,NE, and presented last year at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy cites the prevelance of PDA use by pharmacy students. The paper referenced above mentions that out of 376 doctor of pharmacy students a majority of them, 81%, used it to look up drug information at least weekly and 43% used it for other schoolwork at least weekly. As stated in the article the implications are that: "Pharmacists and pharmacy students will increasingly find themselves needing to utilize hand held technology in their patient care activities. PDA usefulness, PDA ease of use and attitudes towards PDA use have the most influence on PDA use behavior."
This article would be an interesting read if it is published. Right now it has been submitted to the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education in June 2007 and is under review.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Physician use of PDA's
SE An article, “Use and Perceived Benefits of Handheld PDA Clinical Reference Applications”, from the AMIA 2005 Symposium Proceedings – page 1099 by Jeffrey Rothschild MD, MPH et. al. studied a two week period of use of PDA’s in patient care. For 2 weeks in February 2005, 3567 physicians were asked to use Epocrates (Rx Pro, ID and DX) and complete a survey assessing their PDA experience and practice patterns. Discounted incentives for products were offered for participating in the study.
1501 participants completed the study and reported using Epocrates for at least half of all patient interactions. In conclusion physicians thought they improved patient overall care, optimized treatments, and improved patient health. They especially liked the public health warnings, FDA drug alerts, and patient safety information. Furthermore the physicians also believed that technology will improve productivity, reduce medical error and improve patient outcomes.
If the use of PDA’s by physicians continues to grow in clinical practice settings, as reflected in this article, we may see PDA’s as a requirement in more pharmacy coursework. Discounted hand held devices for students would make PDA’s an affordable asset to learning and I, for one, would support their enhanced incorporation into the classroom. SE
1501 participants completed the study and reported using Epocrates for at least half of all patient interactions. In conclusion physicians thought they improved patient overall care, optimized treatments, and improved patient health. They especially liked the public health warnings, FDA drug alerts, and patient safety information. Furthermore the physicians also believed that technology will improve productivity, reduce medical error and improve patient outcomes.
If the use of PDA’s by physicians continues to grow in clinical practice settings, as reflected in this article, we may see PDA’s as a requirement in more pharmacy coursework. Discounted hand held devices for students would make PDA’s an affordable asset to learning and I, for one, would support their enhanced incorporation into the classroom. SE
iSpy iPhone
SE An article, “Is Your iPhone More Like ISpy?” from www.internetnews.com dated November 20, 2007 mentions that Apple may be secretly tracking user activity. For example when stock quotes or weather forecasts are requested via the iPhone the phone identification number, International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), gets sent to Apple. Another possibility is that the usage number, Universally Unique Identifiers, (UUID) is tracked without relaying personal information. How much information is being gathered and what is being done with this information is still unknown.
This practice does not directly affect drug information database use after the program has been downloaded onto the iPhone. What this may mean for some people is that they decide not to buy the iPhone technology and use another hand held device for their drug information searches. SE
This practice does not directly affect drug information database use after the program has been downloaded onto the iPhone. What this may mean for some people is that they decide not to buy the iPhone technology and use another hand held device for their drug information searches. SE
PDA PK Calculator
SE Dr. Ronald Herman, PhD, Director – Iowa Drug Information Network and Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa has designed a well thought out user friendly PDA tools to calculate CrCl and pharmacokinetic (pk) dosing. Essential is the initial input of weight, age, height, SrCr, sex, hydration status and race. From there one can choose dosing information, and prospective or retrospective pk calculations. Medications within the pk program include Amikacin, Gentimycin, Tobramycin, and Vancomycin. One of the best features about these tools is that one can quickly and accurately calculate the CrCl-GFR estimations and the pk information for a patient while staffing clinical rounds. Another key feature is that this software is available as a freeware program.
This program will be extremely useful in the future thanks to Dr. Herman. –End- SE
This program will be extremely useful in the future thanks to Dr. Herman. –End- SE
Drug Interactions
SE I have on many occasions been asked about drug interactions from patients at the community pharmacy where I work. As a student pharmacist intern I formulate an answer and then present it to the pharmacist in charge before proceeding with the patient. Many times the questions are not that in depth and require no additional resources.
A few times we have had questions involving multiple drugs that require evaluating a patient’s complete medication profile. At these times I like to use the CP Onhand or Thompson’s Clinical Xpert Drug Interaction tools. If the question does not involve any OTC or alternative meds I will usually use CP Onhand because it has more complete explanations. If, on the other hand, the patients question involves alternative or OTC meds I will use the Clinical Xpert interaction resource. While I look up the information on my PDA the pharmacist is looking at a paper version of the LexiComp handbook.
In all cases we have derived the same drug interaction results from both resources.
-End- SE
A few times we have had questions involving multiple drugs that require evaluating a patient’s complete medication profile. At these times I like to use the CP Onhand or Thompson’s Clinical Xpert Drug Interaction tools. If the question does not involve any OTC or alternative meds I will usually use CP Onhand because it has more complete explanations. If, on the other hand, the patients question involves alternative or OTC meds I will use the Clinical Xpert interaction resource. While I look up the information on my PDA the pharmacist is looking at a paper version of the LexiComp handbook.
In all cases we have derived the same drug interaction results from both resources.
-End- SE
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