Archive for the ‘References & ebooks’ Category

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The new Red Book 2009

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

The American Academy of Pediatrics has just released the latest 28th edition of the most trusted infectious disease reference, The Red Book 2009.

Concomitantly, it was released from Unbound Medicine for the mobile platforms.

For iPhone/iPod Touch version play this video;

And this time with landscape support;

For the Windows Mobile version play this video;

Unbound Medicine’s Red Book is also compatible with all other platforms including Palm (but not Palm Pre), Blackberry, and even Android.

The AAP book store is offering the same Unbound Medicine Red Book and interestingly at a higher price for non-members!

Skyscape’s and other developers versions will be available in the near future as per the AAP.

Although not as rich as the AAP’s Red Book online, the UM’s web version of the Red Book is offered for free when we subscribe to any of the mobile platforms and so we can access it offline on the handheld and also online on the desktop and wirelessly.

The Red Book is undoubtedly a must-have reference for any pediatrician and we should all upgrade to this latest version, by the way UM provide free upgrade if you’ve been a valid subscriber of the previous version.

It can better

UM’s Red Book is great but still there’s room for improvements;

  • Wish to see images included.
  • Wish to see search history.
  • More linking to external resources.
  • A “what’s new” section would be great.

Also some problems were found in this first iPhone version;

  • There’s a bug in which the home page does not tilt to landscape only after switching to landscape from within the contents.
  • Some links are broken and others are dead as seen here;

However, since this is the first release we expect to see fixes in the near future.

Some useful links

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Posted in All, Infectious Diseases, News, References & ebooks, iPhone | 6 Comments »

The new 5MCC on iPhone from Unbound Medicine

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

The 5-Minute Clinical Consult and it’s website www.5mcc.com has been around for a while and is developed by Unbound Medicine. iPhone users were able to use it by logging in to the website above and access the content.

Now, with the development of a native app there is no need for Wifi or 3G anymore and the application can resides on the iPhone.

See how it looks on iPod Touch;

This is the ultimate reference and it was a best seller on Palm and Pocket PC, and it would certainly be on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The 5-Minute Clinical Consult is not just like the traditional paper book that we used to carry, the digital version includes much more content like the ICD codes and SNOMED codes, full list of searchable medications, algorithms, dermatologic images and other tools.

Unbound Medicine has also added 200 topics from the 5-Minute Pediatric Consult making this app appealing not only to adult physicians but also to pediatricians. They probably wanted to warm us up on the upcoming pediatric native iPhone titles!

As with the other titles titles from Unbound Medicine, you not only get an iPhone version but your username and password can be used to access 5mcc website on your desktop or any wireless device that can browse the internet. This website also includes extra features such as topic of the week, the A to Z drugs, patient handouts, and medical procedure videos. We wonder why they did not add the last two to the native iPhone version. Probably because of the shear size of these videos but at least they could have added online access to it. Speaking of these videos, however, they are merely musculoskeletal exam procedures and may not be of interest to everyone.

Cross linking in between the two references is available via the opposing arrows lower right [see screenshots above].

Some improvements that we’d like to see in future versions, is to have a global search rather than a search for each of the two references and live links to Pub Med articles listed at the bibliography section. We also wish to see a table content page where the book is divided into sections and chapters.

Again, Unbound Medicine is providing a free template from the iTunes store and the content will only be filled out if we subscribe to the 5mcc through their website. This is an approach that could certainly change in the future [read this post to know why].

Bottom line, this 5 over 5 application deserves consideration by all of us..

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Posted in All, All-in-one Applications, References & ebooks | 4 Comments »

The AAP Textbook of Pediatric Care

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Finally a textbook from the AAP; it has been feeling awkward to refer to Nelson or Forfar when we pediatricians want to check on a trusted pediatric reference!

The American Academy of Pediatrics as a regulator and as a national symbol of pediatric care would have to come up with a reference for all pediatricians and finally it’s here.

What’s interesting here is that the book was made available for the PDA/wireless/Web even before the print edition was released! As of the time this post was written Amazon did not release it and is scheduled for release in November. This reflects the fact that it’s essentially designed for electronic use rather than a traditional paper textbook and also means that the AAP is determined to make serious steps towards the transformation of pediatric literature into the electronic format matching the 21st century digital era.

The textbook is packed within the Pediatric Care Online [PCO] which contains a number of other great resources and references for the pediatrician and is the product of AAP content plus Unbound Medicine development.

The AAP Textbook of Pediatric Care is available through the online and wireless version of PCO and is not yet available for the native PDA software.

The textbook looks like this on a Windows Mobile screen using Internet Explorer Mobile to log in to http://pediatriccareonline.org and then working on AAP Textbook

The Textbook is composed of 10 Parts and 361 Chapters covering Pediatrics from A to Z. Even a chapter on Online resources and the use of PDAs in clinical pediatrics. Each topic is followed by a wonderful When to refer and When to admit sections specifically targeting and guiding primary care providers and junior peds but it is also styled in a format that is useful to any pediatrician regardless of the practice setting.

It is so detailed that the AAP decided to make a summerized version for the PDA platform and correctly named Point-of-Care Quick Reference to make it easy for us finding the required information.

It is also rich in guidelines and chapters are followed by live links AAP policy statements when relevant and being an electronic reference it will be frequently updated as new guidelines are added or changed. Not only AAP contents links but also CDC, FDA, and Pub Med live links making it an incredible evidence based pediatric resource.

As part of PCO it is also cross linked to Bright Futures and Pediatric Lexi Drugs making it even more comprehensive and a reference where you can find all answers.

The price for the print edition alone is $165 you can buy it from Amazon here and for the online version is $250 [members] and $290 [non-members] and if you want both then the price is $350.

This is undoubtedly the ultimate pediatric reference and a must have resource for every practicing pediatrician.

Check out AAP Textbook of Pediatric Care pda4peds review and you may also vote for it in the Best Pediatric PDA Reference poll.

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Posted in All, Best, Evidence Based Pediatrics, References & ebooks | 5 Comments »

The AAP Textbook of Pediatric Care

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Finally a textbook from the AAP; it has been feeling awkward to refer to Nelson or Forfar when we pediatricians want to check on a trusted pediatric reference!

The American Academy of Pediatrics as a regulator and as a national symbol of pediatric care would have to come up with a reference for all pediatricians and finally it’s here.

What’s interesting here is that the book was made available for the PDA/wireless/Web even before the print edition was released! As of the time this post was written Amazon did not release it and is scheduled for release in November. This reflects the fact that it’s essentially designed for electronic use rather than a traditional paper textbook and also means that the AAP is determined to make serious steps towards the transformation of pediatric literature into the electronic format matching the 21st century digital era.

The textbook is packed within the Pediatric Care Online [PCO] which contains a number of other great resources and references for the pediatrician and is the product of AAP content plus Unbound Medicine development.

The AAP Textbook of Pediatric Care is available through the online and wireless version of PCO and is not yet available for the native PDA software.

The textbook looks like this on a Windows Mobile screen using Internet Explorer Mobile to log in to http://pediatriccareonline.org and then working on AAP Textbook

The Textbook is composed of 10 Parts and 361 Chapters covering Pediatrics from A to Z. Even a chapter on Online resources and the use of PDAs in clinical pediatrics. Each topic is followed by a wonderful When to refer and When to admit sections specifically targeting and guiding primary care providers and junior peds but it is also styled in a format that is useful to any pediatrician regardless of the practice setting.

It is so detailed that the AAP decided to make a summerized version for the PDA platform and correctly named Point-of-Care Quick Reference to make it easy for us finding the required information.

It is also rich in guidelines and chapters are followed by live links AAP policy statements when relevant and being an electronic reference it will be frequently updated as new guidelines are added or changed. Not only AAP contents links but also CDC, FDA, and Pub Med live links making it an incredible evidence based pediatric resource.

As part of PCO it is also cross linked to Bright Futures and Pediatric Lexi Drugs making it even more comprehensive and a reference where you can find all answers.

The price for the print edition alone is $165 you can buy it from Amazon here and for the online version is $250 [members] and $290 [non-members] and if you want both then the price is $350.

This is undoubtedly the ultimate pediatric reference and a must have resource for every practicing pediatrician.

Check out AAP Textbook of Pediatric Care pda4peds review and you may also vote for it in the Best Pediatric PDA Reference poll.

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Posted in All, Best, Evidence Based Pediatrics, References & ebooks | 4 Comments »

The Fantastic Six

Friday, September 19th, 2008

Many pediatric colleagues ask this question: What could be the best reference that I can ever have on my PDA?

To answer this question we must really pay attention to the word reference and the list of available pediatric references can be checked on that pda4peds category and you can vote for your best also. So what we are talking here is resources that you can use to replace your traditional textbooks.

But I wanted to mention here a special list of PDA resources that are really huge resources and can be relied on whenever a “textbook” is to be cross referenced.

The largest six [pediatric-useful] resources on the PDA are:

  1. UpToDate: this is untoubtedly the largest database ever available for the handheld and it’s obvious from it’s memory size “around 1 GB”.
  2. Pepid: This could be the most power ER reference available for our pediatric needs.
  3. Pedisuite: A database of all the common diseases and conditions discussed and presented in a user friendly format. Note that as of the date of this post Pedsuite ranks highest on pda4peds best all-in-one application poll.
  4. Essential Evidence +: Previously known as INFOPOEM as another great database oriented for primary physicians but these people share a lot of pediatric practice and it is really useful for the pediatrician.
  5. eMedicine: This could be the dream resource BUT unfortunately they discontinued the individual subscription option and is only accessible now by institutions through their imedicine website.
  6. Dynamed: Is the ideal example of an evidence based resource with huge collection of articles and drug index.

You would probably ask why Epocrates and Skyscape are dropped from the list and the answer is; for Epocrates their primary resource is the Epocrates Dx which is a good reference for quick access but not as vast as those mentioned above. In the case of Skyscape then the problem is that their resources are fragmented, in other words you don’t have a single title that encompasses all the knowledge base needed for the pediatrician and so it can not be regarded as a single fantastic resource and even their pediatric constillation is still shortcoming compared to those listed above. Skyscape and Epocrates are great PDA tools but when a pediatrician wants to check on a “textbook” then probably the six listed above are more satisfying.

Posted in All, Best, Opinions, References & ebooks | No Comments »

The Fantastic Six

Friday, September 19th, 2008

Many pediatric colleagues ask this question: What could be the best reference that I can ever have on my PDA?

To answer this question we must really pay attention to the word reference and the list of available pediatric references can be checked on that pda4peds category and you can vote for your best also. So what we are talking here is resources that you can use to replace your traditional textbooks.

But I wanted to mention here a special list of PDA resources that are really huge resources and can be relied on whenever a “textbook” is to be cross referenced.

The largest six [pediatric-useful] resources on the PDA are:

  1. UpToDate: this is untoubtedly the largest database ever available for the handheld and it’s obvious from it’s memory size “around 1 GB”.
  2. Pepid: This could be the most power ER reference available for our pediatric needs.
  3. Pedisuite: A database of all the common diseases and conditions discussed and presented in a user friendly format. Note that as of the date of this post Pedsuite ranks highest on pda4peds best all-in-one application poll.
  4. Essential Evidence +: Previously known as INFOPOEM as another great database oriented for primary physicians but these people share a lot of pediatric practice and it is really useful for the pediatrician.
  5. eMedicine: This could be the dream resource BUT unfortunately they discontinued the individual subscription option and is only accessible now by institutions through their imedicine website.
  6. Dynamed: Is the ideal example of an evidence based resource with huge collection of articles and drug index.

You would probably ask why Epocrates and Skyscape are dropped from the list and the answer is; for Epocrates their primary resource is the Epocrates Dx which is a good reference for quick access but not as vast as those mentioned above. In the case of Skyscape then the problem is that their resources are fragmented, in other words you don’t have a single title that encompasses all the knowledge base needed for the pediatrician and so it can not be regarded as a single fantastic resource and even their pediatric constillation is still shortcoming compared to those listed above. Skyscape and Epocrates are great PDA tools but when a pediatrician wants to check on a “textbook” then probably the six listed above are more satisfying.

Posted in All, Best, Opinions, References & ebooks | No Comments »

Epocrates Online: Is It Ready Yet!

Sunday, August 10th, 2008

Since the first moment I had a look at Epocrates products I was wondering why these guys are not putting their various Essentials components online.

Now, they have done it, not for all products though it’s only the Rx, Dx, Multicheck, MedCalc, and Tables right now. Many of these products are available for free EXCEPT some features.

Of course the Rx has been there online since the birth of Epocrates and now it’s coupled with Dx. That’s great news and we can sense the smell that in the near future all of their great products will be available online.

Check the Epocrates Online website and see how does it work

Epocrates Dx Online

The still missing stuff:

  1. We are still waiting for the Sx, and ID portions and perhaps the dictionary and ICD codes also.
  2. There is yet no wireless version of Epocrates Online so we are still unable to log on using our mobile devices, check out the pediatric mobile websites currently available.
  3. The Dx portion is only available for US and Canada, folks elsewhere are still unfortunate!
  4. The Dx is not yet available for the iPhone version of Epocrates!

So the answer is that it is not yet ready for all of our needs.

We just wish that they’ll soon add these missing stuff soon and thanks Epocrates for adding the Dx.

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Posted in All, All-in-one Applications, Free, News, References & ebooks | No Comments »

Dynamed: the world of EBM in your pocket! Part1

Friday, May 30th, 2008

Ever wondered what was the reason there were concerns about the risk of autism with vaccine administration OR have you ever asked yourself where do I found that systematic review which stated that amoxicillin is safe in pregnancy OR did you face the scenario when you want to treat your acute seizure patient in line with the national guidelines!

All these questions and much more are answered by this HUGE knowledge base of evidence based medicine delivered right into our hands at the very point and moment of care.

Dynamed: a name which originates from “Dynamic Medical” is the way we should think of our references in the near future (or perhaps now!), information is updated on a daily basis and by 100s of doctors throughout the world and all of that collected in a single online treasure. In fact you yourself can edit the information if you find a mistake or if you want to add some information (of course editors will moderate your contribution and have to approve it before it is posted). It is just like a professional medical wikipedia perhaps they should call it medipedia!

Dynamed

So as the name implies this is a transformation from the classic conventional static information database to the dynamic online content of the technology era.

This vast database is available for the PDA (Blackberry, iPhone, Palm, and Windows Mobile) and although is not updated as frequently as the online counterpart but it is updated every week thanks to Skyscape SmartUpdate technology.

The first sentence with each Dynamed topic mentions the date when the topic was last updated and you will be amazed about how fresh is the information in your hands. Since we are talking about the first page I have to say that I did not like having the Rx page as the default page for all topics it should be the introduction and ICD codes.

Every fact and every decision is backed up by its reference giving us confidence and informing us of the origins of today’s modern medicine.

Not only diseases and conditions but also a comprehensive drug database that is constantly updated and revised as well as topics about symptoms and presentations, latest developments, important research studies, and others.

Dynamed acquired by EBSCO in summer 2006 offers an online platform which if you subscribe to it you will be entitled for a free PDA version developed by Skyscape but amazingly if you search Skyscape for Dynamed you won’t find any results!

Another amazing story here is that if you go to www.dynamed.com you will find a bogus website!! So don’t get confused and go to www.dynamicmedical.com. Also, unfortunately there is no mobile version of the website which is a great disadvantage when compared to UpToDate “one of the few competitors”.

However dynamed supersedes UTD in two major features 1) more frequent updates 2) links to references and resources are live and when clicked (desktop) or tapped (PDA) they will take the user to the original online content as apposed to inline excerpts of Pub Med references of UpToDate.

This article is continued in part2

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Posted in All, All-in-one Applications, Evidence Based Pediatrics, References & ebooks | No Comments »

Squeezing the Red Book into Epocrates

Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

pdaMD\'s Red Book + Epocrates

pdaMD a website that deals with medical PDA software and also a vendor of common medical applications recently launched a new offer to sell PDA devices preinstalled with a combination of the 27th edition of the AAP’s Red Book [Update 06-21-09: the new 28th edition is now available see post] and one of Epocrates bundles (Rx Pro, Essentials, or Essentials Deluxe).

It sounds great for pediatricians no doubt about it, it is a very good choice specially for those who are planning to start using the handheld in their practice now, what else do we want, the most complete multifunctional software coupled with the most trusted infectious disease reference.

pdaMD is increasingly turning to the AAP and marketing their products quite successfully recently. In fact they have a website which is offering AAP products exclusively.

However, as for me and may be for many other peds this offer might not be very tempting. Because we already have those softwares installed into our PDAs (See how common is Epocrates Essentials installed on pediatric PDAs) and the Red Book is already offered by two giants in medical softwares Skyscape and Unbound Medicine (read this post).

And what about Epocrates ID its already there in the Essentials package so are they going to give priority to the Red Book over their own infectious disease reference? perhaps not as the marketing campaign is focusing on the Rx Pro rather than Epocrates Essentials.

The issue here is that if they gave an option of only integrating the Red Book into our existing Epocrates Bundle it would have been a product to consider because then we may think that its OK lets get the Red Book right into out Epocrates (Instead of closing Epocrates and launching The Red Book).

Moreover they are offering the software in compatibility with Palm OS only and no options for Windows Mobile and that is another mistake when you want to market a PDA product nowadays.

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Posted in All, Drug Guides, News, References & ebooks, Special Offers | 4 Comments »

Oxford Handbook of Paediatrics, Our dream comes true!

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Oxford Handbook of Paediatrics

Paediatricians in the UK and other parts of the world has been waiting for this title since years ago. In fact it was a dream to have this concise and focused and patient centered best selling handbook with great deal of practical information and how tos to be pediatric specific.

Now that the book is published (see this page) we expect it to be released for the PDA soon enough.

The book can be purchased from amazon for $45.

It’s mother “Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine” is already available from Skyscape and Unbound Medicine (read this blog). We just wonder which of them is going to hurry up for the pediatric version!

The Pediatric PDA Blog has been told that Oxford University Press will not offer the publishing rights to neither Skyscape nor Unbound Medicine, this time they are working with a UK based PDA software developer, let’s wait and see.

Check back to this post as I will update it once we have information about any PDA version in the future.

Posted in All, News, References & ebooks, UK Paediatrics | 9 Comments »

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