Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Free PDA Apps

A great list of the best free PDA apps is being compiled at the Palmdoc Chronicles. You can also submit your favorites.





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Monday, January 15, 2007

Apple iPhone Probably Won't Work Well for Healthcare Professionals

The announcement of the new Apple iPhone (http://www.apple.com/iphone/) has created a lot of excitement in the marketplace, but unfortunately it won't be very useful for most health care professionals as it will only operate proprietary Apple software and will only work on one wireless network initially. Yes, I love my iPod and am infatuated with the various photographs of the new phone, however how useful will it be without all the various programs such as ePocrates, medical calculators, reference books, etc., that I use every day in clinical practice? Probably not much, unfortunately. Initially developers thought it would support Mac OS X applications, however it appears there will be NO 3rd party application support at all! For example, you won't even be able to synchronize with your Outlook calendar, no support for Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, etc., and no medical applications. I wish the news was better, but this looks like a very expensive toy without much practical use in the medical field. Hopefully, other companies will be able to replicate the innovative design and interface of the iPhone to offer support for the thousands of Palm and Windows Mobile applications that are available. Time will tell.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

More and More Physicians Getting Rounding Data via PDA's

PDAs keeping Ill. doctors up to speed

When David Rogers needed quick results from a blood test for one of his
hospitalized patients in the early 1980s, he had to leave the person's
bedside and either make a call to the hospital's laboratory -- a call
that often went unanswered -- or show up at the lab.

Rogers, a pediatric surgeon at Southern Illinois University
School of Medicine, now whips out a personal digital assistant and he
uses a stylus to touch a few icons on a screen slightly larger than a
credit card.

Read more (registration may be required). -- by (Springfield, Ill.) State Journal-Register





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