Trusted Clinical References

• Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines
• Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests

Literature Support for Evidence-Based Practice

• Unbound MEDLINE
• Links to full-text articles that are available via University of Utah journal subscriptions
• Clinical Search provides a filtered search of the MEDLINE database so you can choose to see only results having to do with therapy, diagnosis, etiology or prognosis

Grapherence – A Visual Journal Exploration Tool

• Interactive search capability that visually represents the influence and interrelationships of journal articles

uCentral is available to all University of Utah faculty, staff and students via the web without registration. You may also register for a free personal uCentral account that allows you to personalize the interface and download content onto your mobile device.

Read more about uCentral or watch this brief demo and learn how to get started using this exciting new tool!

For more information about accessing and using uCentral contact Christy Jarvis; 801-581-3031.

PMC has introduced PubReader, an easier way to read PMC articles on the web. The text is displayed as two columns which mimics the pages of a book. The navigation is simplified and all the figures are accessible from anywhere within article. Designed to improve display on the smaller screens of tablet devices, it also looks great on a computer. Although they have not finished testing, PubReader is supported on most browsers.

Try it out on some of the recent PMC articles published by University of Utah researchers.

To view an article in PubReader, use the PubReader links found under the article information in the search results:

Or on the top right of the article page under “Formats:”

On Wednesday, December 5th from 4pm-5pm in room 2600 of the Health Sciences Education Building, the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library presents Appy Hour!

Appy Hour will focus on apps for various mobile devices that you can use for your work, your research, and more.  Bring along your own iPad, Android tablet, smart phone, or other mobile device and share your favorite and most useful apps.  Invite your colleagues and learn about the apps they are using!

Appy Hour Announcement

UpToDate is now available both on and off campus.  Health practitioners are encouraged to register to gain continuing education (CME/CE/CPD ) credit and other benefits. However, users can skip registration and use UpToDate anonymously.

NOTE:  uptodate.com/online continues to work from devices connected to the university network and  does not prompt for user registration.

NOTE to Mobile Users: the UpToDate app does not work with our institutional license. When possible, use your mobile browser to access UpToDate.

The biggest drawback is price: $99 at the online Apple Store (or local Apple Store), and $75 online or at your local Walgreens for the peripheral, and it includes 50 initial test strips. Additional strips are $65 per 50 online through Walgreens. The app is free, and the manufacturer does offer a program to reduce the cost for the strips, down to about $20.

But the real test is whether or not it helps people achieve better glycemic control. Husain points out that while some evidence exists to support the claim that mobile devices help with glycemic control, a full clinical trial is needed to test the effectiveness of this device, perhaps in comparison with other devices as well.

Are you a person with diabetes who uses this or another mobile device to track your BG levels? Does it help improve your success at glycemic control? What strengths and weaknesses does your system have? Tell us about it!

• Cardiologists interpreting ECGs from paper
• Emergency room doctor interpreting from paper, and
• Cardiologist interpreting from mobile device

The first group made fewer major mistakes than the other two groups, as was expected. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the second and third groups. This suggests that “sending the ECG images via a multimedia message service may be a practical and inexpensive telecardiology procedure,” and could be a helpful aid in cardiology consultation. In practical terms, an ER physician working in a rural or remote area could consult with a cardiologist in a larger metropolitan area, and get a faster second opinion before proceeding with treatment. And while the iMedicalApps author points out that it would, indeed, be interesting to see this repeated with higher-resolution phone cameras, this technology could be implemented now, and begin helping to save lives sooner. While telemedicine cannot be a permanent substitute for in-person care, it could save lives in an emergency.

Reference:

Bilgi, M., Gulalp, B., Erol, T., Gullu, H., Karagun, O., Altay, H., & Muderrisoglu, H. (2012). Interpretation of electrocardiogram images sent through the mobile phone multimedia messaging service. Telemed J E Health, 18(2), 126-131. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2011.0108

Do you use an app or other software to assist in making clinical decisions? What do you like and dislike about it? Tell us!

What uses are these devices being put to?

Amanda Chiplock MLS, the Acquisitions Emerging Technologies Librarian at the Nova Southeastern University Health Professions Division Library reported that most of the physicians who borrow their iPads are using them for teaching and presentations (45%) or videos and research (40%) [from iMedicalApps post].

Doctors and other patrons who check out these devices can install their own software selections, and retain access to those apps for use via their account at the iTunes Store, should they decide to purchase an iPad for themselves. Challenges arise when using these devices to access institutional electronic medical records (EMR), but they are not insurmoutable. Upon return to the library, these devices are easily wiped and reset back to their basic configuration for the next patron.

As noted in an earlier post, the Eccles Health Sciences Library also has a mobile device check-out program, providing patrons the option of test-driving any of the following eReaders and tablets before purchasing one for themselves:

• Apple’s iPad (3 available)
• Motorola Xoom (3 available)
• Amazon Kindle (6 available)
• Barnes and Noble Nook (3 “1st Edition” and 3 color)

The check-out period is two weeks (as of this writing), and upon check-in, patrons are asked to complete a brief survey on how the device was used, etc.

Have you checked out an iPad, eReader or other mobile computing device from Eccles Library or another library? What device did you check out, and how did you use it? What did you like and dislike about it? Tell us!

• Easy to open packaging
• Easy entry & removal of the iPad
• A pictorial guide on how to use the sleeve.

The article summarizes its findings thusly:

While no medical device or sterile barrier can guarantee sterility if improperly used, this device appears to satisfy regulatory requirements for sterile barriers and, when used with an iPad that has been appropriately cleansed, should satisfy most hospitals’ requirements for operating room use.

Have you tried this covering on your iPad? How did it work for you? Tell us!

• Download the new issue each Thursday, and store all downloaded issues in a personal library
• Bookmark articles, images & figures
• Watch clinical medicine videos
• Listen to an audio summary for each issue
• Capture and save article notes, and even share them via email, Facebook & Twitter

Non-subscribers view a fully functional free issue, preview the table of contents for each issue and read Online First articles. App-only subscriptions of the NEJM are $14.99 per month, and purchase of a single issue is $5.99 each. At first glance, it does not yet appear that institutional subscribers can use this app to access NEJM, which is a significant oversight. Many faculty, researchers and physicians here at the University of Utah rely on the NEJM, and if a clinical reference tool such as LexiComp can provide an institutional version of their software, so can a top-notch journal publisher.

In downloading the iPad app, I discovered the NEJM Career Center, an iPhone/iPad app that, like its website counterpart, will help physicians search listings of physician and locum tenens job listings by location, specialty or position type. It notifies users of new jobs that match their search criteria, and allows them to email or tweet jobs to themselves or their personal networks.

If you want to keep up on the latest researched published in NEJM, subscribe to their weekly audio summaries podcast, NEJM This Week. Each podcast is 20-25 minutes long, and includes new medical research findings, review articles, and editorial opinion pieces on topics related to biomedical science and clinical practice.

Do you use any of the NEJM apps? What do you like or dislike about them? Tell us about it!

iMedicalApps.com has published an insightful article about how the new hardware in Apple’s latest offering can benefit physicians and other health care professionals.The article highlights an increased screen resolution as a benefit to medical imaging and the addition of a voice dictation feature to the on-screen keyboard as a useful tool in many areas of health care practice. A last feature with significant potential in mHealth and telehealth is the upgraded camera and the ability to shoot video at resolutions up to 1080p HD combined with the optional high-speed 4G/LTE cell network connectivity.

This new device has a great deal of potential for health care education and practice.

These are the kids that are learning independence, that are leaving the house more often, that aren’t eating right, or listening to their nagging parents. Now imagine them with a chronic illness such as diabetes. These kids are notorious for taking fewer and fewer blood glucose readings per day, eating improperly, and generally having a defiant streak in them.

Adolescents who used this device got points for compliance with the regular BG monitoring regimen, which earned them music and apps through the iTunes store. This pilot test of the system with twenty kids saw an increase in regular BG measurements of 49.5%, clearly demonstrating the need for a bigger study. The app also offered a Twitter-like microblog community capability for peer support and encouragement. Below is a video demonstrating use of the bant system.

One idea in this blog post caught my attention: their focus on developing an app to provide a solution in a way that can be clearly demonstrated:

Although we take the design and development of this smartphone platform very seriously, we aren’t interested in creating gadgets. As a research hospital, we take the opportunity cost of building such a system seriously. We need real tangible results. Hence, we spend more time and money evaluating the technologies that we develop than on building them. Our findings feed the next iteration of the technology. This is an example of evidence-based design. Consider it user-centered design on steroids.

After working for over two years to support evidence based research, it seems a natural next-step to consider applying such a standard to the development of medical devices and apps. I look forward to reading about a follow-up study on this devices.

Do you or someone you know struggle with juvenile diabetes? Would a system like this be helpful in encouraging healthy behavior? Why or why not? Tell us about it!

Use a Personal Health Record (PHR) system? You can “send your data to an authorized Third Party such as Microsoft HealthVault” (from the website). And Telcare claims they do not share or sell your personal data to marketers or advertisers, encouraging one to review their Privacy Policy. Unfortunately, at least on the FAQ page where they claim this, there is no link to that policy. It seems that a potential customer has to at least start the sign-up process before they can read the privacy policy, which makes for a rather ironic contradiction.

This mobile app is currently available for the iPhone/iPod touch.

Do you or anyone you know currently use this or a similar device? Or, if you are a person with diabetes, would you consider purchasing such a device? Tell us about it!

Interdisciplinary teams of graduate or undergraduate students can win a portion of $18,000 in prize money for creating ”effective, innovative apps that take on the nation’s pressing health issues” utilizing existing DHHS health data to “engage and empower people in ways that lead to better health:”

The Challenge

With an abundance of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data and other health data available as part of the Health Data Initiative (HDI), students have an unprecedented opportunity to create interactive apps and other tools that engage and empower people in ways that lead to better health. Working in interdisciplinary teams that meld technological skills with health knowledge, the IOM and NAE believe that college students can generate exciting and powerful new products – the next “viral” apps – to improve health for communities and individuals.

To “Go Viral To Improve Health”:

• Identify a health problem in your college’s surrounding community
• Assemble an interdisciplinary student team
• Develop an app using data from the HHS Health Indicators Warehouse and other data sources
• Demonstrate how your solution will engage people in your community to promote action that will improve their health

Details are available at the Institute of Medicine website, and groups wishing to promote this challenge can download and print a flyer.

If you were part of such a team, what would you design? How would you use an app to address a pressing community health problem? Tell us!

Would you sign up for such a program? What ways has texting and communicating with others electronically provided you with support to get through rough times? Tell us about it!

Uganda’s multi-level health system served as the location for this proof-of-concept test. Using a traditional light microscope connected to a Java-enabled mobile phone with built-in camera, specially designed software for data transfer and labeling, and anonymous laboratory samples, researchers were able to capture interpretable images and video at different resolutions. Some phones worked better than others for this, and file size limited the number of images that can be sent at one time.

Another valuable aspect of this study is that it “used a bottom-up approach.”

End users and stakeholders were included in the design process and the initial testing of the system, increasing the chance of our concept to meaningfully improve laboratory services and support health workers and practitioners in their diagnosis and training.

Members of remote clinics expressed even expressed an interest in sharing slides between clinics for knowledge sharing and education. And health sciences students could benefit from having web access to multiple examples of similar conditions instead of a relative few in a textbook.

Reference:

Tuijn, C. J., B. J. Hoefman, et al. (2011). “Data and Image Transfer Using Mobile Phones to Strengthen Microscopy-Based Diagnostic Services in Low and Middle Income Country Laboratories.” PLoS ONE 6(12): e28348.

As noted in a review by iMedicalApps, InfantRisk Center has a user-friendly layout and design, along with a well-organized database of quality information. Medications are rated on a scale from “Safest” to “Hazardous,” with icons to help users visually differentiate between ratings. It also includes “quick access to the InfantRisk Center’s hotline for questions, a “Hot Topics” section, a personalized search function, as well as the ability to bookmark frequently used drugs and information for easy-access in the future” (from iMedicalApps review).

While the medication information base is broad, it is not comprehensive, and less-commonly-used drugs may not show up in a search. The alphabetical listing of drugs also lacks the helpful right-side A-Z listing to make switching between letters easier. While the $29.99 price may seem high for those used to purchasing apps for a few dollars, the potential time savings from this reference tool is worth serious consideration.

Have you used this app, or a similar one? How do you like it? Tell us about it!

While its design lacks visual appeal, its functionality and convenience allows users to keep up with new research in the field from the top journal in the field of Pediatrics. (For a more detailed look at the app, read the recent review in the iMedicalApps blog.) It is available for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Best of all, its FREE.

Do you use this app? How has it worked for you? Tell us about it!

Eccles Library has purchased three iPads, along with the Motorola Xoom (3), Amazon’s Kindle (6) and the Nook (6) from Barnes and Noble for students and faculty to check out and learn about (see previous post). Included on the iPad are the following applications:

• Kindle
• iBooks
• Nook
• Google Books
• Inkling
• Modality Body

along with the standard software that comes with the device.

Do you have an iPad, Xoom or other tablet computer? What medical or other software do you use on it? Tell us about it!

With the app’s tools, users can:

• Add or remove up to 10 layers of muscles with the Scalpel
• Rotate muscles vertically and horizontally
• Move laterally between muscle groups
• Turn on standard pin-style labels which illustrate major musculoskeletal points in each view
• Test themselves using the Quiz function.

This app is currently prices at $19.99. As of this writing, the page in the iTunes store for this app indicates that the developer, 3D4Medical.com, has “agreed to extend the price reduction for this app for another few weeks.”

Pros

• High-quality 3-D muscle images that can be easily manipulated.
• Quiz function
• Detailed information about muscle groups via pin labels

Cons: it lacks some information regarding skeletal components of the systems.

Do you use this app? Tell us about it!

The Library recently purchased a number of eReaders and mobile devices for faculty and students to check out and try before purchasing. They include:

• Apple’s iPad (3 available)
• Motorola Xoom (3 available)
• Amazon Kindle (6 available)
• Barnes and Noble Nook (3 “1st Edition” and 3 color)

Eccles Library staff and faculty demonstrated each of the devices at our September LIFT Forum (see earlier blog post), after which attendees had the opportunity to try the devices.

These devices come pre-loaded with software and eBooks for patrons to peruse. Are you considering purchasing one of these devices? Or are you just curious about them? Stop by the Library and check one out today. And then come back and tell us what you think!

The lectures are presented in straightforward, easy-to-understand language, and some are short enough to be viewed over breaks. The videos include Dr. Najeeb making notations on a whiteboard, which can be difficult to decipher on the small screen of the iPod touch. And the price (free) is unbeatable.

As a librarian new to medical librarianship, I am not familiar with this lecturer, and I found it difficult to learn anything about Dr. Najeeb through his website, the app’s website, Facebook page, etc. As explained in a previous blog post on health literacy, it is important to know the credentials of the person or institution providing medical information on the web. Adding this information to the doctor’s website would be simple and helpful.

Have you used this app, or heard any of Dr. Najeeb’s lectures? Tell us about it!

UPDATE:

This online conference ends Friday morning, October 21, 2011. The last web presentations will be presented in the Auditorium in the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, directly behind the Eccles Health Sciences Library:

• 8:45 – 9:45 a.m.: IT from Both Sides of the Executive Table
• 9:45 – 10:00 a.m.: Online Conference Closing

There are two additional time slots for presentations (6:30 – 7:20 a.m. and 7:30 – 8:20 a.m.) where suggestions are welcome. Just consult the online list of presentations and bring your ideas when you come.

Join us!

The iMedicalApps blog summarizes the strengths of this application:

• If you’re looking for a portable way to study the top 300 most frequently prescribed drugs and are the type of person who is more likely to have a smart phone with you than a pile of flash cards, the Sigler’s app may be for you.
• The informational depth is adequate enough for utilization as a quick reference in the professional setting and could be a valuable tool for students and clinicians alike.
• It’s an expensive download ($29.99), but is priced within range of other traditional pharmacology flash cards, i.e. this list of popular drug cards found on Amazon.com: Brenners Flash Cards($29.99), Lange Flash Cards ($30.23), Range & Dales Flash Cards ($37.00), Pharm Phlash!: Pharmacology Flash Cards ($21.56).

Have you used this app? Tell us about it!

Program Description
Faculty and staff of the Eccles Library showcase their favorite apps for mobile devices. Each presenter has three minutes to present, describe and demonstrate a specific app and take one or two questions.

Apps to be presented include:
•    Dropbox
•    Evernote
•    GoodReader
•    Idea Flight
•    Inkling
•    Mendeley
•    QR Code Readers
•    Simplenote
•    Voice Memo
•    Weather and birds
If you are interested in showing us an app that you like please contact Jeanne Le Ber (contact information below).

Presenters
Faculty and staff of the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library and you!

For more details, visit the LIFT Forum page; program can be viewed from off-site via links from the web page; and available on demand after the program.

The LIFT Forum is co-sponsored by the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library and the Media-on-Demand committee.

Questions can be directed to:
Jeanne Le Ber; 801-585-6744.

This column has featured many posts on mobile technology during the past two years, with particular emphasis on applications for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. This would not have been possible without the vision and creativity of the late Steve Jobs, founder and former CEO of Apple Computer, who passed away yesterday at the age of 56. Jobs transformed our relationship with computers and technology, democratizing access and enabling everyday people to do basic and amazing things.

Prior to Apple Computer’s debut, a select few had the know-how and access to utilize the enormous machines in temperature-controlled rooms at select sites in universities, businesses and government agencies. Jobs and his team at Apple built computers (Apple II, Macintosh, iMac, etc.) with graphical user interfaces (GUI, for short) that simplified interaction between human and machine so that everyday people could own and operate one.

When Steve Jobs gave the 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University, he spoke of his brush with death when he was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which his physician indicated would probably be incurable:

“I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.”

Jobs had the surgery and recovered from the cancer.

During the last 2-3 years, medical uses of mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad have increased dramatically, from interactive medical textbooks, to tracking blood glucose levels, to eye exams, to low-cost medical technology — with too many more examples to name in a single post. Steve Jobs looked beyond what was to what could be done with computing:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

So I tip my hat in tribute to Steve Jobs, whose technological vision and creativity will live on to help many have better health through technology.

(Photo from Wikipedia article on Steve Jobs.)

“5,000 doctors at your fingertips”­– with no waiting room, no copay, anytime, anywhere – for free! It lets people get answers to any health question from thousands of America’s best doctors, at home or on the go, and gives doctors a Virtual Practice, where they answer real patient questions in real time, helping build their reputation, attract new patients and improve the quality of care.

What’s in it for doctors participating in this network? iMedicalApps points out that physicians

participate on HealthTap to better serve existing patients and connect with potential new patients, all whilst demonstrating their expertise and commitment to helping people everywhere. In addition, they can build a social media presence – something many current physicians struggle with, yet is going to be increasingly important to building and maintaining patient panels.

What about the issue of liability? The terms of service clearly state:

While HealthTap Medical Experts do not practice medicine on or through HealthTap, they can be a resource for reliable, relevant general health information.

And:

HealthTap is not a doctor and the use of HealthTap does not create a doctor-patient relationship. HealthTap contains content, and may help you identify services or may offer services. Everything on the Site, including Content accessed or Services provided through HealthTap, are for your information, and should be used for informational purposes only. This means that Content and Services are not a substitute for medical advice from your physician (from the Terms of Use page).

While the concept is appealing, it remains to be seen if HealthTap Express will meet its lofty goals. If physicians want to “build a social media presence,” it is not clear how this app will interact with Facebook, Google+ and other social media sites. And will physicians remain available 24/7 on an ongoing basis without clear financial compensation?

Healthcare consumers (i.e. patients) would do better to bookmark the mobile version of MedlinePlus, and use it to search for information on their condition first, in order to be more fully informed when speaking to a medical professional.

Are you a patient or physician who has tried HealthTap Express? What are your experiences with this app & service? Tell us!

After developing a prototype, the team conducted a clinical trial at a hospital in South Africa using two different mobile phones: a Nokia 3110 Classic and an iPhone 3G, and compared them against the £400 3M Littmann Electronic Stethoscope.

They collected phonocardiograms from 150 volunteers with a range of cardiac conditions using the Littmann, the iPhone, and the Nokia 3100 Classic. The trial showed that the Nokia actually out-performed the Littmann in estimating heart rate, although it had to discard more low signal quality recordings. (from the Oxford blog)

The team is now working on an Android application to record and process the heart sound recordings.

Have any of our readers worked in poor countries where medical services is minimal or lacking completely? Would such a device be helpful based on your experience? Tell us about it!

1. Teaching: For medical schools that are teaching eye examinations — instead of having to look at static pictures of eye anatomy, this “live view” could be an optimal and innovative way to teach. This could also be a great way for an ophthalmology attendings to save key eye pathology that they visualize in the mobile setting for teaching purposes.
2. Use in mobile clinics: This could be a good screening tool for various eye pathology — and not necessitate the need for an ophthalmologists or physician to be on site. A physician could view the saved images at a later time and determine correct interventions. (From iMedicalApps blog)

This last idea could be very handy in a disaster area, or in rural areas in poorer countries where no little or no medical services exist.

Below is a video demonstration of how this technology works, including taking fundus photography.

One drawback of this system is that it only works with the iPhone 4, not the iPad or iPod touch.

• 8 built-in search engines for access to millions of articles.
• Download and store PDFs of the articles you read.
• Highlight and add notes to your PDFs.
• Pinch and zoom features native to the iPad.
• Email, print and share a paper with other Papers users wirelessly.
• Stores 5,000 papers.
• Import papers from web-based storage services like Dropbox.

Papers will sync with the desktop version ($79), adding even more powerful literature management.

Papers is also available for the iPhone.

Have you used Papers, either the mobile or the desktop version? Tell us about it!

Program Description: Current hot mobile devices include Tablets and eReaders.  The Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library has purchased a number of tablets and eReaders to provide our patrons the opportunity to try these latest mobile technologies. This presentation provides an overview of the library’s tablet/eReader project, introduces the basic features of the iPad, Xoom, Nook and Kindle, and reviews some favorite apps.  The devices are WiFi only, and require a wireless network in range to work effectively. On campus, the devices can easily use UConnect and UGuest WiFi networks.

Devices will be available for show and tell after the presentation.

Please join us to learn more about these devices and how you might check one out.

Presenters
Amy Honisett: Education Librarian
Peter Jones: Consultant
Jeanne Le Ber: Associate Director for Education and Research
Nancy Lombardo: Associate Director for Information Technology
Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library

For more details, visit the LIFT Forum page.

Program can be viewed from off-site via links from the web page; and available on demand after the program.

The LIFT Forum is co-sponsored by the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library and the Media-on-Demand committee.

Questions can be directed to:  Jeanne Le Ber; 801-585-6744 or jeanne.leber@utah.edu

Detection

At Michigan State University, civil engineering professor Syed Hashsham is developing a device that performs genetic analysis on microRNAs and various other genetic markers, and can be operated by an iPod touch or Android-based tablet. Professor Hashsham received a grant from the Michigan Economic Development Cooperation to develop the “Gene-Z” along with Jim Tiedje from MSU and Erdogan Gulari from the University of Michigan. This device, if successfully developed, could provide a low-cost technology for early detection of cancer, which is sorely needed in less-affluent countries. (Thanks iMedicalApps!)

Management

The cancer information site Cancer.net has a free iPhone and iPad app for cancer patients and their families:

The free app allows cancer patients and their family members to look up pertinent information based on cancer type and download a wealth of oncology related information in the form of videos, podcasts, and up to date articles.

Where the app truly shines is in there key features: Ability to store questions, medications and symptoms. The way this app implements these key features is absolutely stunning, and makes the application a must have for cancer patients and their family members. (From the iMedicalApps blog.)

A full review of the app is available at the iMedicalApps blog.

The horse is out of the barn folks, now let’s see which hospital IT departments evolve and which ones don’t. Technology has forced many professions to evolve, including the ones born of technology.

Have you used mobile technology in a medical setting? What device(s) do you use? What challenges have you faced in terms of security concerns by your institution’s IT department? Tell us about it!

At the bottom of any EBSCO search or search results page there is a link “New: EBSCOhost iPhone/iPod Touch Application.” When clicked on, this link opens a window where you can enter your email to receive the two-step instructions for installing the app.

1. Download the app from the iTunes App Store, and sync it to your iPhone/iPod touch.
2. EBSCO sends you a verification email. View the email on your iPhone and tap on the link to authenticate your app in order to access all the subscription databases University of Utah Libraries subscribe to.

According to the iTunes App Store, this robust app “enables users to:

• Choose which databases to search
• Limit results to full text or peer reviewed
• Sort by relevance or date
• Retrieve full text results in HTML and/or PDF formats
• Save results for offline access at a later date
• Email results to self or others
• View cover flow display of results”

In addition, it will save your 25 most recent searches automatically.

One feature that is lacking is the ability to export results to citation management software such as EndNote. Perhaps if EBSCO made it possible to sync search results with the “My EBSCOhost” feature of the online version, the end user could easily save their search results to EndNote when they get back to their computer.

Have you used EBSCOhost’s mobile app, or another one like it? Tell us about it!

• View images and related text.
• Search image captions, keywords and references to refine search results.
• Bookmark images for later research.
• Email images to your friends and colleagues.

Like so many apps on the market, SpringerImages has multiple subscription levels. The free, basic level allows viewing of images from Open Access, peer-reviewed articles,which amounts to about one-tenth of the three million images in their database. If you choose to pay for improved access, the options include “Medical and Life Sciences (Mobile)” for $29.99, and “All Subjects (Mobile)” for $49.99 per their sign-up system.

The “Home” screen feels crowded, with the top most item showing a tally of the number of images in their database and the number you actually have access to. Below this are a search box, a button for advanced searching, and a list to browse by topic that is so narrow that the user is more likely to select a topic rather than brush to scroll.

I offer two suggestions for making this app more widely available. First, many libraries and other institutions subscribe to SpringerImages for their quality content. Why not offer free or reduced-price access to the equivalent mobile version for students, faculty and librarians? This would get their product in the hands of more end users right away, and have the potential of bringing in new customers down the road when students graduate, or faculty & librarians change institutions. And second, while this app can be used on the iPad, a tablet-friendly version would allow for a better browsing experience.

Do you have a favorite medical images app you use? Tell us about it!

According to the Technology Review website published by MIT, using

a nanosensor “tattoo” and a modified iPhone, cyclists could closely monitor sodium levels to prevent dehydration, and anemic patients could track their blood oxygen levels.

A team at Northeastern University’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences is working to make this possible. They have created a specialized, invisible “tattoo” with nanosensors to detect sodium and glucose levels without breaking the skin. Once the tattoo is applied, the end user slips a case over their iPhone which contains “a nine-volt battery, a filter that fits over the iPhone’s camera, and an array of three LEDs that produce light in the visible part of the spectrum” which can read the tattoo. For now, researchers are exporting the data to a computer for analysis. In the future, it is hoped that an app can be developed to do this work.

No doubt diabetics and others who have to take their own blood samples on a regular basis would welcome an end to needle sticks! Do you have an idea for an app that could replace a regular and annoying medical procedure? Tell us about it!

(Thanks to the iMedicalApps blog for this information!)

According to the iMedicalApps blog, this version is only for individual subscribers. Institutional subscribers such as the University of Utah will have a longer wait due to significant technical differences in the way it is implemented. In some institutions, it is integrated into the electronic medical record (EMR), which poses privacy and security issues. When it becomes available here, the Eccles Health Sciences Library will post it to this blog and to our list of mobile applications.

The Eccles Library has purchased a number of eReaders (iPads, nooks, Kindles) for patrons to learn about and experiment with, and will be made available to the public after our staff have been trained on them. Stay tuned…

Satish Misra, MD, of the iMedicalApps blog has a two-part series of posts examining this issue, and asking for opinions from readers. The first posting points out:

In the past ten years, there has been a growing movement to restrict marketing of drugs to physicians by pharmaceutical companies. As a result of programs like the PharmFree project, traditional marketing avenues like free samples, sponsored dinners, and so on have become far more limited. And so naturally, pharmaceutical companies have looked to new avenues through which to reach physicians.

Using Epocrates as an example, Misra evenhandedly explains how free medical apps allow pharmaceutical companies to support physicians in their work while doing market research and sales at the same time. In his second article, Misra briefly examines Skyscape and several of its free apps that allow “life science companies…to reach thousands of HCPs in a new venue and format.”

As a library working with students in the healthcare professions (medicine, nursing, pharmacy, etc.), one of our goals is to help them develop information literacy skills: the ability to critically evaluate information provided via the Web and other electronic formats. When presented with information, it is important to apply a certain set of evaluative principles, as represented by the term “the C.R.A.A.P. Test:”

• Currency: timeliness of the information
• Relevance: importance of the information for your needs.
• Authority: source of the information
• Accuracy: reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the content.
• Purpose: the reason this information exists

Such an evaluation system should be applied to “free” medical apps as well.

The Eccles Health Sciences Library has a list of free and fee medical apps for all of the major mobile platforms. Do you have a favorite application? Tell us about it!

Kid Normal References ($2.99) is a pediatric app that covers developmental milestones, dental development, normal heart rates and sleep patterns, and more. While designed for pediatricians and other medical professionals, it can also answer the question that all parents and grandparents ask: “Is my child or grandchild developing normally?”

This application also includes all CDC vaccination schedules (such as pediatric ages and catch-up schedules) in a variety of formats.

While it is only available for the iPhone and iPod touch, it will probably run on the iPad at iPhone resolution.

Have you used this or a similar app to obtain information about your child, grandchild, or pediatric patient? Tell us about it — pros, cons, etc!

To use Dosecast, “simply enter basic information about each drug you take, such as the name, dosage, and how and when you take each drug. You can setup reminders on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule – or, unlike other apps, for a pre-set number of hours or days after the last dose. Dosecast adjusts to your changing day, enabling you to take a dose early or postpone it as long as you need” (from the website).

This app is free, and features flexible scheduling, reliable push-notifications, postponeable reminders, customizable dose amounts and instructions, smart silencing, and privacy and security. For an additional $3.99 in-application purchase you can quantity tracking with alerts, local notifications, and emailing.

Do you or someone you know use this or another medication reminder app? If so, how helpful or unhelpful is it for you? Tell us!

Statistics from the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet (link here) show that the prevalence of diabetes in the U.S. is 8.3% or 25.8 million people. In 2007, the total cost of diagnosed diabetes in the U.S. alone reached $174 billion. It is clear that diabetes is a major healthcare issue in modern medicine. On the basis of this, it is important that healthcare professionals are well informed about diabetes and its potential complications as it will have a significant impact on future practice.

Johns Hopkins and Skyscape have teamed up to offer the POC-IT Guide to Diabetes for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, part of a series of apps that also include HIV and antibiotic guides. The app itself is free, but to use the guides requires a paid subscription to the online Johns Hopkins Guides service, which iMedicalApps reports as “usually $39.95.”

“The Diabetes Guide is designed to assist clinicians by distilling complex material into need-to-know information, easily accessible for rapid viewing and which can be frequently updated” (from the review). The information resides on your mobile device, so it is available whether or not you have an Internet connection. The iMedicalApps review goes into great detail about the features of this app, concluding that The Diabetes Guide is a “complete, easy to use mobile application that covers the majority of the clinical aspects and associated complications in great depth.”

Do you have access to this app? If so, how useful and user-friendly do you find it?

“With Keynote, an iPad application similar to PowerPoint, children are able to slide through pictures of what will take place from admission to discharge. With this device I can explain surgery preparation through pictures and age-appropriate language.”

The program is designed for children ages 3 and up, and allows for increased interactivity over books.

Their conclusion? “iResus improved junior doctors’ CASTest scores during a standardised simulated cardiac arrest scenario when compared with those applying purely their own knowledge and experience.” In addition, participants “stated that the iResus ‘app’ was easy to use, increased their confidence in making decisions, and that they would be prepared to use it in real clinical emergencies. From their own perspective, they did not think using such an ‘app’ would be unprofessional or indicate poor training.”

The iResus medical app is free in the iTunes store. iMedicalApps has a review of the app itself with plenty of screen shots to see what it looks like and how it works.

References:

Low, D., Clark, N., Soar, J., Padkin, A., Stoneham, A., Perkins, G. D., & Nolan, J. (2011). A randomised control trial to determine if use of the iResus©application on a smart phone improves the performance of an advanced life support provider in a simulated medical emergency*. Anaesthesia, 66(4), 255-262. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2011.06649.x

Eccles Library is busy redesigning our website to incorporate mobile-friendly features. What would you like to see us offer? Tell us!

The medical students at the University of Minnesota’s Duluth campus have all been given iPads to help with medical education — adding to the growing list of medical schools implementing “iPad medical curriculums”.

Why the iPad?

The University of Minnesota’s Duluth medical school had received a $2.3 million Health Resources and Services Administration grant to fund efforts to increase the use of electronic learning in the medical school curriculum.

This article goes on to cite the reasons for the iPad’s continued leadership in this market:

• Numerous apps
• Portability
• Lagging competition

Check out this video of iPads being used by the medical students at UMD.

What do you think? If you own an iPad, how helpful have you found it in your education? Let us know!