The use of a personal digital assistant in orthopaedic surgical practice

The personal data assistant is a powerful tool enabling data acquisition, analysis, and scheduling. The Palm and Windows Pocket PC Operating Systems are available in various personal data assistants that combine bright screens, ease of use, and compactness. Data that are acquired can be imported into standardized spreadsheets for statistical analysis. Report generation using these data can simplify record keeping, facilitate later research, and decrease secretarial typing time. The use of a forms manager, such as Pendragon Forms, enables rapid creation of personal data assistant forms that interface with numerous computer database programs. We currently use theses programs for data acquisition when patients are seen in the office, in the operating room, and when returning for followup.