Handhelds in Medicine: A Practical Guide for Clinicians / Edition 1

by Scott M. Strayer, Peter L. Reynolds, Mark H. Ebell

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780387403298
Publisher:	Springer New York
Publication date:	11/19/2004
Edition description:	2005
Pages:	468
Product dimensions:	7.01(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.04(d)

About the Author

Scott M. Strayer, MD, MPH, is Assistant Professor of Family Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Peter L. Reynolds, MD, is formerly Assitant Professor in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Reynolds is currently serving overseas with the U.S. Air Force in Geilenkirchen, Germany.

Mark H. Ebell, MD, MS, is Associate Professor in the Department of Family Practice at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.

Table of Contents

Preface
Section I. Getting to Know Your Handheld Computer
Chapter 1. Choosing a handheld computer a. Palm OS
b. Pocket PC
c. Handheld PC
Chapter 2. Getting to know your new handheld - Palms and Pocket PCs a. Entering information b. Built-in software c. Connecting and synchronizing d. Beam me up, Scotty! Communicating with other handhelds
Chapter 3. Downloading and installing new software a. Palm OS
b. Pocket PC
Section II. Medical Software
Chapter 4. Where to find medical software - Overview of websites
Chapter 5. Patient Records
Chapter 6. Medical Calculators - Crunching numbers made easy
Chapter 7. Medical References - Information at your fingertips
Chapter 8. Charge Capture - Getting paid for what you do
Chapter 9. Prescribing - Reducing medical errors
Chapter 10. Adapting standard software for medical use
Chapter 11. Software for Nursing
Chapter 12. Software for other health professionals
Chapter 13. EBM and Handhelds
Section III. Advanced Topics
Chapter 14. Connecting to wired and wireless networks
Chapter 15. Programmable Calculators
Chapter 16. Database Programming (i.e. HanDBase, Pendragon)
Chapter 17. Creating your own programs a. Appforge b. Codewarrior c. NSB Basic
Chapter 18. WAN/Server Use a. Hot Sync Server (XTND Connect)
b. Procedures Tracking c. Curriculum d. Schedules e. Phone Numbers
Chapter 19. Teaching others to use handheld computers a. Palm Emulator b. PocketPC emulators c. ELMO units

Editorial Reviews

From the reviews:

"The editors have organized 20 chapters … into a worthwhile text on handheld computer use in medicine. … Key points, explicit hands-on exercises, and abundant screen shots are particularly strong features. …Any health care professional (doctor, nurse, student) with patient care responsibilities … will appreciate this informative resource." (Thomas G. McLeod, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Vol. 80 (6), June, 2005)

From the Publisher