PDA choice - medical apps

[Lalakai]

Nope, not a "what's the best PDA thread" so relax . But what I do need is info on what pda would be best for use in hospitals??? So I'm looking at medical software support, ect.. My wife is a nurse and has suddenly turned geeky concerning pda's. Most of the doctors and nurses have palms or palm based pda's but there are also more of the ppc's appearing. Anyone who is in the medical profession and uses a pda, please share your experiences, what you like and what you would change. Thanks folks.

 

[Keego]

I'm not in the medical profession, but I'd recommend just having her ask the people w/ pdas (both palm and ppc) which apps work well on them.

 

[GL]

All the docs at my mom's hospital use Palms if they use a PDA at all. They usually really like the simplicity but the real seller is the extended battery life. You try charging your ipaq when you're not sure if you'll be called in the next few hours and need it.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

pocket pc 2002 is awesome

 

[RossMAN]

Here are two Computer Bits articles I think you and your colleagues might want to read:
Physicians and PDAs
The Doctor Is In ...Cyberspace

I would recommend a PDA which offers at least:
1) Between the Palm OS and Pocket PC, whichever offers the greater selection of medical applications.
2) Expandable storage through Sony Memory Stick, SmartMedia, CompactFlash, etc. My Sony Clie PEG-S320 came with 8MB but can be expanded through the use of Memory Stick media.
3) Built-in rechargeable batteries!
4) You'll have to decide between a monochrome and a color screen.
5) If you're going to do Wi-Fi which offers better security.

If you decide on getting a Palm, check out the Hot Deals forum here and search for Clie you'll find several deals.

 

[Lalakai]

okay, some good info folks; RossMan thanks for the links.

come on now, I know there are some nurses, doctors, med.techs in this forum that use pda's; spill your guts and let me know what your preferences are, likes and dislikes.

as was noted earlier, the battery differences is apparent, but considering that my wife works 12 hour shifts and is rarely on call, she could have sufficient time for her unit to recharge. A big issue will be the ability to expand memory via flash/compact memory.

thanks again people, and don't be shy about voicing opinions.

 

[KokomoGST]

Well, I'm the techie in my circle of friends and even worked for a medical dot-com before the bust...
Anyways, the Palm definitely has a ton of cool medical apps, references, calculators, and other useful things. My doctor friends (or soon-to-be) mostly have Palms of some flavor and they say it really helps them out with not having to remember or look up lots of the more infrequent stuff. Especially people just going into residency that are trying to remember basic stuffs.

However, some hospitals and teaching facilities are using PocketPC as well for integration into their electronic systems. Also, there are many of the same apps for PocketPC, they're just harder to come by. It just boils down to if you need a platform at work/school and if not that, just personal preference or easy availablity of software.

 

[vec]

Noth that this helps you but I thought it was cool.

I was watching some news channel in Los Angeles and they were talking about a heart device that is smaller than a dime and thin as a piece of paper. They "install it" directly to the patient's heart via a tube from a artery in the neck. The process takes ~ 30 minutes and can be an outpatient procedure. I am not sure what it does exactly (didn't have my 100% attention).

The cool thing is that they showed some type of UHF antenna connected to an ipaq and it was receiving data from the device. A program on the ipaq was saving and charting information from the heart without a wire or cable! Very cool.

 

[RossMAN]

Unless you intend on buying your wife a PDA as a surprise gift and assuming she currently works in the medical field I have the perfect solution! Why not have her ask her co-workers which PDA they use and why they prefer it? What are it's shortcomings?

The last thing you'd want to do is buy a PDA based on mostly our mostly non-medical recommendations. Only to find out the software and network at her work are NOT compatible with the PDA you bought.

After we know which PDA's your wifes co-workers use and what they don't like about it, then we can offer some recommendations which should hopefully meet or exceed her needs.

 

[Lalakai]

medical apps will be a large part of the usage, but also simpler tasks (mp3, books, games, calenders, addresses). I've played with palms and ppc's and seem to more comfortable with the ppc, but not certain if this will hold true for her, and her lack of computer knowledge makes it hard for her to "extrapolate" what she wants in a pda. oh well, we'll keep working on it. thanks again and when we finally do decide, I'll post a small note here.

'later