Medical charting
There are several solutions available that can provide full documentation for the medical chart. PatientKeeper is probably the most popular of these with over 40,000 users. WardWatch (at http://www.torlesse.com/pilot/wardwatch/) is another solution in this category. WardWatch records investigations, medications and dosages, and consultations requested by the senior consultant or registrar during ward round examinations. It's pictured in Figure B.

FIGURE B

WardWatch records investigations, medications and dosages, and consultations.

Medical and drug reference and electronic prescriptions
This category has probably experienced the most growth in the last year. Hands down, the most popular drug reference for the Palm OS has to be qRx from ePocrates (at http://www.epocrates.com). This is a clinical handheld application that allows point of care access to drug dispensing information and drug interactions. In the course of a little over a year, this product has been adopted by 150,000 healthcare professionals, of whom 85,000 are U.S. physicians. qRx has been shown to reduce medical errors, manage drug costs, and enhance practice efficiency. One of the best things about qRx is its cost: free. qRx is now joined by qID, an infectious disease antibiotic handbook that has recently been released. Another nice feature of the ePocrates solution is AutoUpdate. If you have a live Internet connection, qRx securely updates its database via the Internet each time you HotSync. A more in depth look at ePocrates can be found elsewhere in this issue of PalmPower's Enterprise Edition.

For those of you familiar with Tarascon's Pocket Pharmacopoeia, Medscape offers ePharamcopoeia as a free download at its Web site, http://www.medscape.com/MedscapeMobile/Tarascon/public/learn_tarascon.html.

Skyscape (previously K2 Consultants) offers a variety of medical references for the Palm OS, including LexiDrugs, and 5 Minute Clinical Consult (at http://www.skyscape.com). These products are also available from Franklin Electronic Publishers (at http://www.franklin.com), which also offers the PDR (Physicians Desk Reference).

For electronic prescriptions, there are many solutions available, such as ePhysician's ePad (at http://www.ephysician.com/products/index.asp?id=epad) and iScribe (at http://www.iscribe.com). Each of these allows script writing on the Palm device. When batch synchronized via cradle or wireless connection, the prescriptions are sent to a server that transmits the scripts to the patient's pharmacy. Reduced errors, reduced pharmacy callbacks, and a low monthly fee are the benefits of these solutions, and since they stand on their own, they can integrate into your existing workflow. ePad is pictured in Figure C.

FIGURE C

ePad allows you to write and send prescriptions to any pharmacy in the U.S.

Another solution that was just introduced at HIMSS is IR Script from IS Complete (at http://www.iscomplete.com). IR Script has the potential to become an instant hit among physicians that are in need of a simple, yet practical solution. Here's how it works: you complete a couple of intuitive screens to write your prescription and then point your Palm device at a wireless infrared printer to print legible prescriptions. Everyone is happy because there's a minimal impact on the workflow of all parties involved. You can synchronize all the prescriptions you've written to a desktop database, pharmacists can fill a legible prescription, and patients feel comfortable because they leave your office with their prescriptions in hand.