Nuclear cardiology patient tracking using a palm-based device: methods and clinician satisfaction

Handheld personal computers are popular, easy to use, inexpensive, portable, and can share data among different operating systems. In our institution, nuclear cardiology testing is performed in the nuclear medicine department and jointly reported by radiologists and cardiologists. The objective of this article is to describe a system for recording nuclear cardiology data and to assess clinician satisfaction using handheld computers with the Palm Operating System. We devised a Palm-based relational database/ using commercially available software (HanDBase) that requires minimal computer expertise to implement and maintain. Data are collected by the cardiologist and synchronized to a single central relational database compatible with Microsoft Access. We assessed cardiologists' satisfaction with this system. Cardiologists unanimously agreed that this system had a positive impact on patient management and cardiology fellow education. They were satisfied with ease of data input, sharing, retrieval, and clarity of data display. The cardiologist with the least experience in using the software took longer to input data and thought that it prolonged the nuclear cardiology rounds. The idea to develop this software was to ease data entry using shortcuts and lists, limiting data stored to that essential for patient management and also to transmit data easily between staff. The cardiologist with the most experience in using the software felt more comfortable and satisfied with it. This was perhaps due to his continuous involvement in the development of this system. Like any new system, there is a learning curve in using this software. The software was easy to customize, and support and tutorials were found on the manufacturer's Web site. The system of collecting data using handheld computers with the Palm Operating System is easy to use, relatively inexpensive, accurate, and secure. The user-friendly system provides prompt, complete, and accurate data, enhancing the education of fellows while facilitating the job of cardiologists.