PDAs in Medicine

A large and increasing amount of work is now going into studying the use of PDAs by doctors, measuring how effective they are, and in trying to identify the best applications and uses for them. Below are a few recent articles from the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on the topic:

"Palm reading": 2. Handheld software for physicians, by Feisal Adatia and Philippe L. Bedard. CMAJ, March 18, 2003; 168 (6).

More than half of MDs under age 35 now using PDAs, by Shelley Martin. CMAJ, October 28, 2003; 169 (9).

In a 2002 article in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association entitled Clinician Use of a Palmtop Drug Reference Guide (2002; 9(3):223-229), it was reported that 50% of ePocrates users report the software prevented 1-2 drug errors per week. 60% said it provided answers in 10 seconds or less (vs. 1-5 minutes in traditional media). And, in a 2003 survey by Skyscape, they found that:

• More than 88 percent of doctors use their PDAs at least four times a day, with 15 percent using their PDAs more than 25 times a day.
• When asked how they use their PDAs, 72 percent of doctors reported they rely on their PDA for treatment purposes—primarily using it for drug references, clinical references, drug interaction guides or hospital treatment guidelines.
• Almost 90 percent of the doctors concluded that PDAs help them provide better care.
• Over 85 percent of physician respondents agreed that by using a PDA they had decreased the number of potential medical errors. And more than 50 percent communicated that by using a PDA they were able to eliminate over 4 percent of medical errors.
• When asked to quantify the specific benefits PDAs bring to their daily practice, almost 20 percent of respondents concluded that PDA use enables them to treat at least three more patients a day, with another 20 percent of respondents concluding that they can treat 1 – 2 additional patients per day.
• Doctors do not just rely on one reference for their PDA. More than 70 percent of doctors have at least three medical references on their PDA and 22 percent have more than eight references.
• Medical software for PDAs is increasingly being integrated with other applications but there is still significant room for growth. In each case less than ten percent of medical professionals reported their PDA software is integrated with prescription, billing, charge capture or patient records systems.

It seems clear from research like this that the use of PDAs in medicine quite definitely has a positive effect in reducing medical errors, allowing doctors to treat more patients, and in general to provide better care. They also allow doctors to stay up-to-date with the latest evidence-based practice guidelines, look up unfamiliar drugs, and keep track of everything from daily schedules to CME credits.