A Surgeon is already finding uses for his iPad in the OR.
“Look, I’m looking at a spine here and I can zoom in to where the disc is herniated. I can pull it up and exactly measure what the canal size is, for herniation at,” Palma said.
The story is being reported by WMBFnew.com, an NBC news affiliate, about Dr. Claudio Palma.
Dr. Palma could be using one of the DICOM apps to view the images on his iPad, possibly OsiriX.
Pretty soon he’ll be able to use Dragon Mobile Dictate to transcribe his surgeries right after he’s done. It’s interesting to see how early adaptors of the iPad in healthcare continue to make use of the versatile device.
Other news: Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School have received a $15 million dollar grant for health information technology – the grant is for a four year project to create an “iPhone-like” health IT application. They hope to create an “iTunes App Store for health”.
If you dream of pulling out your shiny iPad from your white coat to look up medical information via an app, similar to what you do on your iPhone, you might think: surely, my iPhone medical apps must look better on my iPad. You should know the following before entertaining those thoughts.
Will the iPad fit in your white coat? check. Is the iPad fast enough for this type of healthcare point of care use? check. Will your iPhone medical apps run on the iPad? Check. Do the iPhone medical apps you have translate their user experience over to the iPad? Not really.
In our recent hands on review of the iPad, we were definitely excited with the iPad’s potential, especially for the medical community. With that said, there have been two huge disappointments with the device. (read more)
I am currently migrating from one electronic health record (EHR) to another in my practice and feeling very sorry for myself.
There ought to be a way to do this easily, I keep thinking to myself. Despite all the talk of interoperability and health information exchanges (HIEs) that is all the buzz right now in health IT circles, it seems that some basic functionality that could help make doctors’ lives easier is still missing from EHRs.
While being able to exchange standardized XML formatted documents between hospitals when transferring patients is critical to safe and effective transfer of care, what about the doctor who wants to archive some patient records for later retrieval? Or for the practice that wants to switch from one EHR to another without paying an over-priced consultant to change column-names in an exported spreadsheet or to write a scripts to rename exported attachments.
Here is a list that my friend Jim O’Connell, a physician who is starting a company to address even more fundamental issues of aggregating EHR data for research and other purposes, came up with:
The iPad has finally been released and we’ve got our hands on one so we can provide the medical community a healthcare perspective of the device. I’ve been using the iPad for the last two days, and these are the initial impressions.
Fits in your white Coat:
The iPad should fit comfortably your white coat. If you continue on to the rest of the review you’ll see pictures of the iPad easily settling into my white coat, along with my stethoscope. Granted, my white coat has been thoroughly stretched out with mini medical reference books, papers, and medical devices, but even with a fresh white coat, you shouldn’t have problems tucking away your iPad.
For the iPad to be seriously used in the medical setting, this type of convenience is key. I can’t imagine carrying it around while I juggle patient notes and other necessities.
The iPad feels heavy in your hands(1.5 pounds), but is thin, measuring half an inch in depth. The ends of the iPad are tapered, making it feel significantly thinner. The heavy feel is almost welcome and assuring, it makes the iPad feel strong – making you feel like a drop, with a case on it, wouldn’t break it. This type of build quality is expected from an Apple device. (read more)
Developers for some of our favorite medical apps have been working at a fever pitch to have their apps utilize the extra functionality and screen space offered by the iPad. Just to be clear, all your iPhone medical apps will run on your iPad. But, some developers have made “iPad versions” of their medical apps. The following are some of our favorite medical apps that have done this conversion, and screenshots of how they have utilized the extra space and features afforded by the iPad. (read more)
The Apple iPad is set to launch, and right now, most of the early reviews of the product have been positive. The NY Times has a fantastic piece looking at the iPad from two angles – An everyday user verse a more technically inclined user, and both have differing opinions on the eventual success of the iPad.
But what about a medical professional or a medical student. From the reviews I’ve read so far, the screen is gorgeous and easy to read, further giving traction to the idea of medical e-books or radiology viewing on the iPad. We’ve also made clear that handwriting software for the iPad is a necessity if broad implementation in the medical field is a goal.
We’ll be getting our hands on an iPad soon so we can show you how some of our favorite iPhone medical apps perform on the new platform.
Until then, we’d like to hear from you. Will you be buying the iPad, why or why not? What additional features do you want to see on the iPad – and do you think it can help with medical education or enhance the patient physician relationship?
If you’ve been following our site, you know the iMedicalApps Team was at HIMSS 2010 earlier this month, where we covered the conference in great detail.
Two of our senior writers, Dr. Wodajo, and Satish Misra, conducted interviews, wrote commentary, and captured great videos of actual medical applications in action – most of this mobile technology is yet to be released.
We rolled out posts at breakneck speed, sometimes twice a day, so we’ve compiled a “highlight reel” of the products we covered in case you missed something – from iPhone dictation software, real time ICU monitors, and soon to be released mobile electronic health records – there’s a bit for everyone.
Also, we can’t wait to see how some of these apps will look on the iPad. (read more)
Please click here to access the Top 15 free android medical apps list.
Health care professionals and students using Android are probably wondering what Android apps may be helpful in the health care setting.
Android developers continue to add more apps to the Market that relate to health and medical practice. While the field of apps relevant to health care professionals on Android lags far behind the iPhone OS platform, there are several apps worth noting.
Here, we look at some of the more useful medical apps for clinicians, and list a few apps for patients as well.
The fact that we chose a “Top 5″ (and not “Top 10″), indicates just how limited the Android Market currently is for medical apps.
Kaplan’s recently released USMLE app, Kaplan Step 1 Qbank, contains a promo code for the desktop version of their full Step 1 Qbank. The promo code will net you 25% off their Qbank, and for those of us that used Kaplan for our Step 1 studying, that’s welcome news. Even if you get the minimum 1 month Qbank, this coupon code will save you over $30. The pricing for the various Kaplan Qbanks can be found here. Beware the promo code expires in a few days, March 31st.
We’ll be doing a full review of this recently released Qbank for the iPhone. Currently this app only contains 100 USMLE questions, but its free. Depending on the type of feedback they receive for this app, Kaplan has told us they plan to release a full version of their Q-bank on the iPhone.
Personally, I’m still waiting to see if USMLE World, my favorite USMLE prep Qbank, will come out with an iPhone app….
Apple has made it clear that current iPhone apps will run on the iPad. For many of the medical apps we’ve reviewed, its welcome news, but it won’t make the user experience of these apps any different. However, there are a few medical apps currently on the iPhone whose user experience should be greatly enhanced by the iPad’s 9.7 inch 1024 x 768 pixel display.
The following are the top 5 medical apps we’re excited to see in action on the iPad. This list is focused for health care professionals, and stay tuned for another list for medical students. Of note: These apps will only be great on the iPad if the developers port them over – basically, if the developers make a custom version of the app for the iPad. (read more)
This clever and disruptive web service – and the perfect companion to an electronic health record that includes practice management tools – started in September 2007. Unfortunately I have met very few doctors who have heard of it. This company started by connecting New York dentists with open appointments to unattached patients trying to schedule a checkup, but has since expanded to include primary care, pediatrics dermatology, ophthalmology, ENT, orthopedics and several other specialties in New York City, Washington DC and San Francisco. In this sense, they have followed the model of Yelp, a recommendation provider for local commerce, by building the service one city at a time, instead of launching widely and taking a bigger risk of failing. But as more sophisticated electronic health records proliferate, physicians will definitely want to keep an eye on this service.
The value of the site is easily understood, especially if you have an electronic health record/practice management system. You, the patient, need to see a pediatrician or an orthopedic surgeon. If you search for doctors on-line or in the Yellow Pages (do they still print those?), you will be assaulted with dozens of names and offices in every specialty. After that, you still need to telephone each doctor’s office and request an appointment, preferably at a time that is convenient for you. And then, you get put on hold. ZocDoc changes all of that and for the better.
Inflammatory bowel diseases – including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis -represent quintessential chronic illnesses with intermittent flare-ups. Patients initially present, are diagnosed with IBD, begin treatment, experience prolonged periods of relative remission, but suffer episodic exacerbations of symptoms that can last for months. Regardless of their disease course, the quality of life for these patients often suffers as they struggle with the abdominal pain and cramping, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, infections, and an increased risk of colon cancer, rashes, and eye and joint problems from their disease, as well as the side effects from their medications. The exact nature and time course of these symptoms are critical, as they guide how physicians make changes in their treatment regimens. Here we review the GI Monitor app from WellApps, a powerful tool that helps IBD patients track their symptoms and share this data.
Brett Shamosh, the founder and CEO of WellApps, was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at the age of 16. The difficulty he encountered tracking his symptoms encouraged him to create WellApps and develop software to help patients like himself track their symptoms. Currently, the GI Monitor is WellApps’ only iPhone app. Though a young enterprise, WellApps does boast a GI Monitor Advisory Committee that includes several gastroenterologists in both academic and private practice, as well as individuals with IBD. And the outcome is a great tool for patients to manage a difficult disease.
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Editor’s note: Make sure to check out our new 
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