This is one of the rare occasions where we see an Unbound Medicine title that can be directly purchased in App Store rather than a free template to be filled by the contents when we subscribe.
The new edition has several updates of the contents but no new sections seen. Of note, is that the free copy that comes with Merck Medicus is not updated [Merck Medicus told me that it's not likely in the near future and they'll keep the fourth edition for now].
With the new edition we still have the same wishes that we had about the previous edition which are:
Some more images to accompany the imaging tests.
Age based normal reference values will be greatly appreciated in pediatric practice.
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.
Android has been there for quite a while now but there has been no serious medical applications for it so far except perhaps an iSilo compatibility.
Today, Unbound Medicine announced the availability of Android version of several of their popular titles such as the Merck Manual and Davis Drug guide.
Here are some screenshots copied from their website;
If this is telling us anything then it is the fact that medical applications are now ubiquitous on all mobile devices whether it’s Palm, Windows, iPhone, Android, or others.
As we expected and explained why in a previous post that the new Apple rules do not allow free apps which would then ask for subscriptions from outside the app store. So here’s the action started, two of the biggest medical developers started offering their apps paid right away from the app store.
Skyscape, similarly, has also started to market their subscription based titles as stand-alone apps on the app store. In fact, they have gone so furious that as of this moment there’s 29 new paid apps of their various titles on iTunes app store!
However, what’s really interesting, is that they still offer the various short and long term subscription options on the Skyscape website. Not only that, but also they still send users to their website when the Skyscape Universe tab is tapped on the Skyscape Medical Resources [they recently started to call it the Skyscape App]! It could be just a matter of time before they modify these options, but definitely before the official launch of iPhone 3.0 OS next Summer.
While for Unbound Medicine, right away they tell you go to iTunes to purchase the app and sorry there’s no free trial [see their web page] obviously they did not work out a “lite” free version of the new Handbook of nursing diagnosis.
So now let’s wait for epocrates and Pepid to join the new club and no more $$$ missing Apple pockets!
Davis’s Drug Guide is produced from Skyscape in the name of DrDrugs implying the phycisians version of it. The latest and most up to date copy is now available native on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
We’ve talked about Davis’s Drug Guide from Unbound Medicine in a previous post, this one from Skyscape is essentially the same and is even sold at the same price which is $50 for the standard edition.
Here’s how it looks;
So we are not going to repeat the merits of this popular Rx reference as we already mentioned that with the Unbound version, However, there are certain differences between the two that we need to examine:
First: the biggest missing feature from Unbound’s version is the built-in drug dose calculators which is fortunately available in the Skyscape’s version. Second: Unbound’s version provides not only iPhone native version but also web and wireless access to www.drugguide.com which is a great advantage when you want to access it from your desktop or from another mobile device. While in the case of Skyscape you’d have to pay another $50 to get a desktop version. Third: Skyscape’s SmartLink technology is a an advantage, as we can cross link the drugs to their respective drug interactions or disease information available on the other installed Skyscape titles on the same device. Interlinking is available within the single Unbound Medicine app not across the different apps. Fourth: UI, navigation, indexing, and search are actually great on both of them and no major difference are noted.
So both have advantages and disadvantages and the choice is individualized. One particular advice here is that if you have many Skyscape titles then it’s wise to go for the Skyscape version for cross linking and if you think you will frequently access it via the desktop or other mobile devices then go for Unbound Medicine’s.
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..
Here comes another app from Unbound Medicine, but this time they learned the game.. They are offering it at a low price so as to compete with the incredibly low prices that are seen in App store.
Diagnosaurus is offered for free for the Palm and Windows Mobile [go to download page] [read Pda4peds review] and it should have been free here also, but anyway nobody can complain about 99 cents.
The previous models from Unbound Medicine was in much higher prices such as Davis Drug Guide and Nursing Central. Probably they are experimenting with Diagnosaurus to see which model is going to work better. So far, all the iTunes reviews are positive for Diagnosaurus after 24 hours of its launch. Some reviewers of Davis Drug Guide have reacted negatively to the need to purchase content after downloading the free application, despite the company’s clear explanation of the subscription process on the app description. With Diagnosaurus you pay 99 cents via the App Store and that’s it.
It replicates the Unbound Medicine platform that we have seen so far in all of their apps, to the extent that they offer a link to online user guide which is the same for all of the apps. The platform features wireless updates [which is not so helpful for a static ebook such as Diagnosaurus!], multiple indexes, smooth navigation, crisp pages and an enjoyable user experience.
Diagnosaurus DDx is a simple listing of symptoms with their causes and related alternative DDx differential diagnoses, and it’s mainly composed of adult medicine material and no pediatric focus. For example, we don’t find febrile seizures, or infantile crying and the causes of GI hemorrhages are mainly in adult life.
However, it can be useful sometimes as it includes commonly encountered symptoms and presentations such as abdominal pain and electrolytes disturbances.
Here comes another app from Unbound Medicine, but this time they learned the game.. They are offering it at a low price so as to compete with the incredibly low prices that are seen in App store.
Diagnosaurus is offered for free for the Palm and Windows Mobile [go to download page] [read Pda4peds review] and it should have been free here also, but anyway nobody can complain about 99 cents.
The previous models from Unbound Medicine was in much higher prices such as Davis Drug Guide and Nursing Central. Probably they are experimenting with Diagnosaurus to see which model is going to work better. So far, all the iTunes reviews are positive for Diagnosaurus after 24 hours of its launch. Some reviewers of Davis Drug Guide have reacted negatively to the need to purchase content after downloading the free application, despite the company’s clear explanation of the subscription process on the app description. With Diagnosaurus you pay 99 cents via the App Store and that’s it.
It replicates the Unbound Medicine platform that we have seen so far in all of their apps, to the extent that they offer a link to online user guide which is the same for all of the apps. The platform features wireless updates [which is not so helpful for a static ebook such as Diagnosaurus!], multiple indexes, smooth navigation, crisp pages and an enjoyable user experience.
Diagnosaurus DDx is a simple listing of symptoms with their causes and related alternative DDx differential diagnoses, and it’s mainly composed of adult medicine material and no pediatric focus. For example, we don’t find febrile seizures, or infantile crying and the causes of GI hemorrhages are mainly in adult life.
However, it can be useful sometimes as it includes commonly encountered symptoms and presentations such as abdominal pain and electrolytes disturbances.
The famous Merck Manual is now offered from Unbound Medicine in a new format and in a bundle of symptoms and drugs resources.
The original Merck Manual was previously offered from Unbound Medicine as a stand-alone PDA product, but recently they have added two optional resources to the package; These are the Merck Manual with patient symptoms and Davis Drug Guide for physicians.
So let’s see how it looks on Windows Mobile:
The solution is available for Palm, Pocket PC, Blackberry, and also as a wireless website and a regular website [check it out here http://www.unboundmedicine.com/merckmanual/ub] all for one annual subscription price. If only the manual it is $50; if you add the symptoms guide it is $60; and if want the Davis Drug guide added then it’s $80. The website amusingly includes “topic of the week” to engage the visitor.
The real addition here is the Merck Manual with Patient Symptoms as we have already seen the other two products before; check the Davis Drug Guide and the Merck Manual Pda4peds reviews.
So the patient symptoms is essentially a list of commonly encountered symptoms each being detailed in etiology, pathophysiology, evaluation, treatment, and key points. Many of the symptoms are appropriately addressed to pediatric practitioners for example cough in children and constipation in children and even a topic about crying.
There is also a wireless update button that will allow us to update the contents [bimonthly for the Merck Manual and more frequently for Davis] and also to send search queries to our online account. Sounds great right!
However, there were many missing features that we wished to see in this reference, here’s a list
Many clinical presentations are missing, for example you don’t have hypokalemia or abnormal tendon reflexes. There are only symptoms and the most common ones only.
Still many of the symptoms are adult-only, for example there’s no headache in children or pediatric GI bleeding entries.
Some entries found in the original reference are not listed in the patient symptoms even when they are perfect symptom topics for example Bruxism.
There is yet no native iPhone app for this title, although we can perfectly visit the wireless website on our iPhone’s and iTouch’s Safari.
Hopefully we will see big improvements in future versions of this suite.
The FA Davis Drug guide has been one of the most popular drug guides on the PDA. Recently it has been released from Unbound Medicine as a complete solution.
Here’s how the native iPhone app looks;
As with other Unbound Medicine’s new titles you can access the application online by visiting www.drugguide.com on the desktop browser or on your iPhone’s Safari or any device with Internet connection. The web version of the resource also delivers extra resources such as recent FDA alerts. The complete solution can purchased from Unbound Medicine for $50 yearly subscription.
There’s a special nursing version of this pharmacologic reference the Davis Drug Guide for nurses which is also available from Unbound Medicine and is packaged in Nursing Central.
It is interesting how FA Davis gave copyright permissions to four PDA software developers to market this title. Is is available from Medical Wizards, Skyscape, and USBMIS. But their partnership with Unbound Medicine seems to be flourishing as they are now sending visitors to the new Drugguide website developed by Unbound Medicine.
The availability on the iPhone is not exclusive either, as Skyscape has made it available a while ago in what they call it DrDrugs.
There are detailed reviews of this application on Pda4peds check these links:
