Posts Tagged ‘USBMIS’

Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

One of the coolest apps ever came from USBMIS is the Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia. Not only it delivers the latest Tarascon drug index but also it sports some very useful tools and a real multi drug interactions analyzer. However, the app did not qualify as an all-in-one application since it does not include a disease and labs reference.

Have a look here;

An intuitive design with a single page interface where all venues can be accessed. The pharmacological index is the latest with frequent updates as the device is docked and synced. However, we’d wish to see a direct in-device Wifi update which would make the update process much easier.

Pediatricians may find this app very handy as it appropriately includes pediatric dosing and also calculators and tools that are needed at the point of care.

Tarascon is also partnered with NeedyMeds, Consumer Drug Information, and the latest prices are picked from Drugstore.com. The drug interaction analyzer is very easy to use and has got it’s own tab.

Another wonderful feature is the recently added Inter Linking technology in USBMIS apps, which is just like Skyscape’s Smart Linking, makes the purchase of multiple apps synergistically boosting each individual app as we can cross link keywords. In fact, the USBMIS model may feel easier to use as the keyword is highlighted with a yellow color so that we know what to cross check, unlike Skyscape’s Smart Linking.

The things that we missed from Tarascon are:
1- a built-in drug dose calculator and hopefully this is going to be added in future version. and 2- an iPhone version is really needed in the this era of iPhone mania!

For an annual price of $40, this great drug reference ranks high among the list of choices when it comes to the most commonly used PDA task [looking up drug dosage and information].

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Posted in All, Calculators, Converters, Tools, Drug Guides, Drug Interactions | 1 Comment »

The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

The original paper back of the Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy has been one of the most popular infectious disease references for a long time since the early seventies.

The Sanford Guide

The PDA version is supplied by USBMIS and no other developer ever seems to have the copyright. In fact, SG has been the hallmark that distinguished USBMIS from the beginning.

So here’s how it looks;

As we can see above, the home screen has two major portals either a direct search or a link to the table of contents.

The reference is updated annually and it includes all the detailed information that we ever dreamed to have about antibiotics with relevant clinical applications.

Ever wondered what antibiotics work on Gram positive microorganisms or ever thought what the spectrum of use of Macrolides! Puzzle no more, The Sanford Guide delivers these tips and valuable info in a spoon feeding style.

Pediatric dosages, immunizations, recommended empirical therapy, prophylaxis, drug interactions, and much more, you name it.

They recently added a great feature called Inter Linking which is exactly like Skyscape’s Smart linking technology which will make the purchase of their titles synergistic as we can link the keywords across the different installed titles. They even started marketing a bundle of three titles under the name of Interlinking.

The USBMIS website lists only a Blackberry version, but don’t be fooled by that, just register and start the purchase process and you will be then asked which platform you’d prefer including Palm and Windows Mobile. Or else, if you don’t feel comfortable with just go to the Sanford Guide Website and purchase it from there directly, you will get exactly the same USBMIS app that will be synced with USBMIS servers.

One wish we have to make is the availability of such a lovely application on the iPhone.

The Sanford is certainly the best of its kind and we wonder how the Red Book is still rated as the best on the Pda4peds Best AntiBiotics app vote!

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Posted in All, Best, Drug Guides | No Comments »

IDdx from USBMIS

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

USBMIS recently released their new title IDdx, which means Infectious Disease differential diagnosis. The app is based on the popular infectious disease reference, Control of Communicable Disease Manual.

This is the ultimate differential diagnosis app design that we have been waiting for …

See how it looks on Windows Mobile;

As we can see above there are two main buttons, one for diseases and another for symptoms. So we can either search by diseases and we’ll get all the symptoms and signs associated with that disease or on the other hand we can diagnosticate by adding the symptoms and see which diseases may cause those symptoms.

Not only that but even there are several filters like choosing whether the disease should have all of the symptoms together or any of them and also we can choose the chronicity and some epidemiological factors.

The user interface is fantastic and the logic behind the design is unmatched by any other differential diagnosis program that we have seen so far for the PDA. In fact, this is exactly what we dreamed of a year ago.

However, one glitch we’d like to see it fixed in future versions which is the replacement of the alphabetical listing of the ddx disease list by one that is ranked from commonest to rarest. This way it will truly be a complete infectious disease secret weapon on the bedside.

Also the app can be enormously enhanced if they add lab values data input in the ddx generation and interlinking with other USBMIS titles did not work appropriately. In addition, it would be great if they make an iPhone version and if the Palm and Windows Mobile installation be little easier with less registration steps.

IDdx can be purchased or downloaded as free trial directly from the USBMIS website

For further details check the IDdx Pda4peds review.

IDdx is listed in the infectious disease Pda4eds best app polls. Vote for it there!

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Posted in All, Differential Diagnosis, Infectious Diseases | No Comments »