Handhelds in Medicine: A Practical Guide for Clinicians

✍ Scribed by Scott M.Strayer, Peter L.Reynolds

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 476
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Handheld Computers in Medicine is an essential volume of information needed for all physicians, especially those in the primary care specialties. It is in the tradition of Mark Ebell's recent successful Springer book and CD-ROM, Evidence-Based Diagnosis: Handbook of Clinical Prediction Rules. (This enables the clinician to make an automatic calculation of risk assessment based on the patient's presenting symptoms, which are fed into the program. By working with the CD-ROM, a risk calculation can be made in seconds, all within the time period of a standard office visit.) Ebell is a renowned family physician and educator who has devoted his career to assessing and processing clinical information, which is to be used in making an accurate diagnosis and prescribing the correct therapeutics in the shortest time period. If this is to be done correctly, the physician must be able to implement a variety of electronic information bases effectively, and during the time period of a standard office visit. Nothing accomplishes this goal as efficiently as handheld PCs and Palm Pilots. This allows the physician to engage the patient, take a case history, perform a physical examination, access patient records, complete the diagnosis and prescribe the necessary therapeutics and process the bill coding, all without leaving the patient's side. Depending on the physician's degree of 'tech-savvy' skills, this can be an exhausting and intimidating process. It can be especially complicated to convert an entire office practice, then conform to a particular healthcare organization's plan of operation. Ebell's book and CD-ROM set operates as a concise guide to enable any physician and healthcare professional to implement the use of handheld computers into their practice. It is important to note that the spirit of this publication's goal is to eliminate error and thus raise the level of quality in all aspects of patient care.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Preface......Page 7
Contents......Page 10
Contributors......Page 13
Registered, Trademarked, and Copyrighted Material......Page 15
Getting to Know Your Handheld Computer......Page 19
Choosing the Right Handheld for Your Needs......Page 20
Batteries and Bytes: Handheld Computer Features......Page 22
Synchronization......Page 24
“Beam Me Up”......Page 25
Handwriting Recognition......Page 27
Software Included “Out of the Box”......Page 29
Summary......Page 39
Getting to Know Your Handheld: Palm OS and Pocket PC......Page 41
Entering Information......Page 42
Handwriting Recognition......Page 46
Built-In Software (Palm OS)......Page 51
Built-In Software (Pocket PC)......Page 56
Connecting and Synchronizing......Page 61
Advanced Topic: Fast and Slow Synchronization......Page 63
Beam Me Up, Mr. Scott!* Communicating with Other Handhelds......Page 66
Summary......Page 67
Getting Software from Cyberspace to the Palm of Your Hand: Downloading and Installing Software on Your Palm OS or Pocket PC Handheld......Page 68
Downloading the Software from Cyberspace......Page 69
Key Points......Page 71
The Final Step: Putting It on Your Handheld Computer......Page 75
Installing Software on a Palm Handheld Computer......Page 76
Key Points......Page 78
Installing Programs on a Pocket PC Handheld Computer......Page 80
Key Points......Page 89
Summary......Page 90
Medical Software......Page 91
“Where in the World Wide Web Do I Find All This Stuff?” Finding Medical Software and Information on the Web for Handheld Computers......Page 92
How We Reviewed Web Sites......Page 94
Commercial Web Sites......Page 95
Talking with Other Health Professionals About PDAs: Handheld Computer Medical Forums and E-Mail Lists......Page 99
News from the “Ivory Towers:” Sites from Educational Institutions......Page 101
Other Educational Sites......Page 105
Top Ten Miscellaneous Web Sites......Page 107
Other Miscellaneous Web Sites......Page 109
Summary......Page 111
What Floor Is Mrs. Jones on, and What Does Her CBC Look Like Today? Patient Records on Handheld Computers......Page 112
Palm OS Software......Page 113
Power Users Tip......Page 116
TestKeeper......Page 135
Power Users Tip......Page 136
Pocket PC Software......Page 147
Summary......Page 151
Single-Purpose Calculators......Page 152
Programs with Multiple Calculations......Page 157
Medical Calculators for the Pocket PC......Page 161
Summary......Page 168
Medical References: Information at Your Fingertips......Page 170
Evaluating PDA Medical Books and Reference Material......Page 171
A Survey of PDA Medical Book Resources......Page 172
Electronic Drug References......Page 177
Final Words and Hot Tips......Page 189
Moving Beyond Scraps of Paper for Billing: Handheld Charge Capture......Page 192
Designing the Ideal Solution: Telepathic Billing......Page 193
Creating Your Own Program......Page 194
Stand-Alone Solutions for Handheld Charge Capture......Page 196
Extra Strength Charge Capture Solutions......Page 200
Coding Guidelines for Your Handheld......Page 204
Summary......Page 208
Electronic Prescribing: Drug Dealing Twenty-First Century Style......Page 209
What Elements Should Handheld Electronic Software Ideally Possess?......Page 210
The Big Drug Fix......Page 211
Data Security, Connectivity (Data Sharing), and Backup......Page 212
Bells and Whistles......Page 213
Handheld Prescription Writing as an Incremental Technology......Page 215
Key Points......Page 218
Handheld Prescription Writers in Action......Page 219
Summary......Page 235
Key Points......Page 237
What’s a Document Reader?......Page 238
Eliminating 2-by-2 Scraps of Paper: Using Palm OS MemoPad or Pocket PC PocketWord......Page 239
Third-Party Document Readers......Page 241
Online Documents......Page 244
Medical Applications with AvantGo......Page 245
Medical Applications with iSilo......Page 254
Power User Tips: Old-Style Formatting with iSilo3......Page 255
Power User Tips......Page 260
Summary......Page 265
Welcome to Handheld Computer Databases......Page 266
Key Points......Page 267
Convince Me: Why Would I Want to Spend Time and Money on a Database Program for My Handheld?......Page 271
Key Points......Page 273
Key Point......Page 275
I’m All Confused About the Variety of Handheld Database Software Products on the Market......Page 276
Key Point......Page 282
Start by Thinking About the Type of Projects You Will Be Working On......Page 283
Key Points......Page 285
Key Point......Page 286
Key Points......Page 288
Key Point......Page 290
Key Points......Page 294
How Do I Network My Database over Multiple Computers in Multiple Offices?......Page 301
Summary......Page 303
Software for Nursing: RNs Are Mobilizing......Page 304
Lighten Your Load: Use Your Money for Technology, Not Sticky Notes......Page 306
Reference Software: Avoiding Shoulder and Back Trauma by Carrying the Dreaded “Med-Surg” Textbook Electronically......Page 308
Programs You Can Use in Practice (Florence Nightingale Would Have Been Envious)......Page 310
General Reference Applications......Page 314
Calculators and Conversion Applications (Where Were These Gems in Nursing School?)......Page 322
Patient Tracking......Page 326
Summary......Page 332
Public Displays of Affection (My PDA): By Laura Kosteva, MS, CCC......Page 334
From PDA Naïve to PDA Savvy: A Physician Assistant’s Story: By Greg Schaller, MPA, PA-C......Page 341
Case Study: VNA Home Health Systems: By Jeneane A. Brian, RN, BSN, PHN, MBA......Page 345
Summary......Page 349
Advanced Topics......Page 350
Evidence-Based Medicine and Handhelds......Page 351
Why Is the Point of Care a Better Place to Answer Questions?......Page 352
The Programs......Page 353
Summary......Page 360
Wireless 101......Page 363
It’s a . . . PDA!......Page 364
Local Wireless......Page 366
Got Wireless? Now What?......Page 368
Getting Down to Business......Page 369
The Palm OS: Can 24 Million (and Still Counting . . .) Users Be Wrong?......Page 371
Pocket PC: Up and Coming......Page 378
The Blackberry: Wireless Simplicity......Page 381
Running in a Hospital with Scissors (or Why IT and Legal Departments Cringe at the Sight of an Intern with a Wireless PDA)......Page 385
Wireless Present, Wireless Future......Page 389
What, Me Program? Are You Crazy?......Page 392
Using SynCalc......Page 393
Summary......Page 400
Don’t Pay for a Handheld Database: Build Your Own!......Page 401
Key Points......Page 402
Key Point......Page 406
Key Points......Page 407
Summary......Page 430
What Is Programming?......Page 431
What to Look for in a Programming Tool......Page 432
Summary......Page 439
Beyond the Beam......Page 440
Commercial Servers: What Is Out There Already?......Page 441
Address Book: Keep Me in Touch!......Page 444
Schedules: Get Me Where I Need to Be......Page 446
Programs: Can I Have That Calculator Everyone Else Has?......Page 447
Procedures Tracking: How Many Deliveries Have I Done?......Page 449
Summary: Servers Can “Serve” Information to a Group......Page 452
Teaching People to Use Handheld Computers......Page 453
Huge Mistake #2......Page 454
Wonderful Training Tip #3 (paraphrased from Abraham Lincoln’s original treatise on handheld computing)......Page 455
Installing and Using the Palm OS Emulator for Presentations......Page 456
What Do I Do with This Emulator Once It Is Downloaded?......Page 457
Pocket PC Emulators......Page 461
Now You’re Ready......Page 465
Another Way to Present: An ELMO Unit......Page 466
Appendix......Page 468
Index......Page 470