Physicians and their Mobile Devices
Gone are the days where you would see a hospital physician huddled in a report room somewhere madly fingering through volumes of texts and journals looking for information on a particular diagnosis or medication.
Today, you’re more likely to see a physician (not only in the hospital, but in the family doctor offices and dental offices) madly tapping away on an iPad or iPhone.
The availability and sheer number of medical apps in the various app stores have soared in the past few years, thanks to the popularity, portability and storage capacity of the smart mobile devices of today. A visit online to the Apple AppStore as an example will make this quite apparent as you browse through the “medical” category.
Not only are there numerous apps for keeping track of patient lists and all the valuable information required there, such as allergies and past medical history, but there’s also a fair number of popular diagnostic resources that have been created into an app.
A great example is the Merck Manual, which has been around in paper book form for well over 100 years. It’s an extremely popular resource for physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals looking for information on health-related topics, specifically related to symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.
The Merck Manual is now an app, and a pretty good one for that matter.
For $35 you can download the universal app onto both your iPad and iPhone and you’re good to go. You instantly have access to this essential medical reference book right there on your iPhone. If you also download a medication reference app and an app for physiotherapy recommendations, you really can have an entire medical library for reference literally at your fingertips.
Just think of how beneficial this can be for medical students.
You can see how the popularity of mobile devices and app development has really changed the way healthcare professionals practice their work. It’s become a quick and trusted way to access information, track health records, save paper and make everyone more productive.
Link:
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/merck-manual-professional/id331016312?mt=8
