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Using personal digital assistants to access drug information
Scott R McCreadie1, James G Stevenson, Burgunda V Sweet
1Department of Pharmacy Services, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor 48109, USA. srmc@med.umich.edu
Summary
Personal digital assistants (PDAs) provide physicians with accessible drug information within a university health system. This technology enhances access to critical medication data, improving healthcare delivery and patient safety.
Area of Science:
- Health Informatics
- Medical Technology
- Clinical Pharmacy
Background:
- Personal digital assistants (PDAs) are widely adopted in healthcare settings.
- University health systems have existing intranet infrastructure for information dissemination.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the implementation of PDAs for accessing drug information in a large university health system.
- To evaluate the feasibility of extending existing online drug content to PDAs.
Main Methods:
- Utilized mobile enterprise software supporting multiple PDA platforms without requiring programming skills.
- Developed customized content channels for ambulatory and inpatient care.
- Implemented data synchronization with the health system's database servers.
Main Results:
- Successfully deployed two content channels: ambulatory care and inpatient care.
- The ambulatory channel included preferred agents, poison control, and pharmacy locations.
- The inpatient channel provided formulary, drug shortages, and medication safety tips.
Conclusions:
- PDAs can be effectively utilized to provide timely drug information to healthcare professionals.
- This initiative streamlined access to essential medication data within the health system.
- The system demonstrated a successful model for mobile health information delivery.