Hold the phone
Monday April 9, 2012
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CHICAGO — Older patients can benefit from the newest technology with about 17,000 healthcare-related smartphone apps that can do everything from monitor patient activity levels to identify elder abuse, according to presenters at the American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Sections Meeting here in February.
When venturing into the smartphone app domain and downloading apps, be sure to check ratings and permissions, the presenters stressed. It is best to install antivirus software. And always type passwords into the system for security — do not choose to have the program "remember" them, they said.
Patient education & references
WebMD is free on both iPhone and Android platforms, offering health information and decision-support tools. It is informative but not diagnostic, and it is basic, said Heather Fletcher, PT, DPT. "As opposed to Medscape, this is more for the general public," Fletcher said. "You can use WebMD to educate your patients. It gives you an easy tool."
A Medscape app is available on both platforms for free, with medical news and alerts in 34 speciality areas and more than 4,000 evidence-based research articles. However, it is geared toward physicians. PubMed On Tap for iPhone and PubMed Mobile Pro for Android are each available for $2.99, and allow searches for full-text, evidence-based medical reference information on the go. Results can be saved and emailed.
Skyscape Medical Resources, available on both platforms for free, offers decision-support tools, outlines on hundreds of diseases and symptoms, journal summaries and clinical breaking news. It also has an RxDrugs app that offers information on thousands of medications, interaction information, dosing calculators and photos of pills. It is a large application, taking up significant memory space, Fletcher stressed.
Additional resources are available on Skyscape for varying fees, both for rental and purchase. These include Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Pocketpedia, The Rehabilitation Specialist’s Handbook, Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, Journal Watch, Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, Netter’s Atlas of Human Anatomy, 5-Minute Clinical Consult and Red Book.
The top-rated mobile drug reference for U.S. physicians, Epocrates Rx, is available for free on both platforms. A pill finder allows you to identify a pill by sight and get information on the medication, Fletcher said. Epocrates Rx also is a large application.
Lab Values Pro, available for iPhone, is offered for 99 cents. Users are able to edit and add notes to entries, however those edits are lost when the application is updated. Quick LabRef is available for the Android platform for free, and offers information in table formats. "This is very user-friendly, but you are not able to edit on the Android," Fletcher said.
ICD9 Consult 2012 Free, available for iPhone, offers searchable ICD-9 code sets. Find-A-Code ICD10/ICD9+GEMs, free for Android, also searches these codes. Both apps allow users to keep a "favorites" list. "It gets rid of that 30-pound book you have to carry around all the time," Fletcher said.
Finally, an app called Elder Abuse Resource Center by Far and Wide Software, available for the iPhone at $1.99, provides information on the seven types of elder abuse: physical, emotional, sexual, neglect, abandonment, financial exploitation and self neglect. It provides definitions, signs and follow-up strategies. "What’s also really nice about this application is the 'report,’" Fletcher said. "Right here under 'report,’ it gives you direct [phone] numbers. As clinicians, we are obligated to report abuse."
When venturing into the smartphone app domain and downloading apps, be sure to check ratings and permissions, the presenters stressed. It is best to install antivirus software. And always type passwords into the system for security — do not choose to have the program "remember" them, they said.
Patient education & references
WebMD is free on both iPhone and Android platforms, offering health information and decision-support tools. It is informative but not diagnostic, and it is basic, said Heather Fletcher, PT, DPT. "As opposed to Medscape, this is more for the general public," Fletcher said. "You can use WebMD to educate your patients. It gives you an easy tool."
A Medscape app is available on both platforms for free, with medical news and alerts in 34 speciality areas and more than 4,000 evidence-based research articles. However, it is geared toward physicians. PubMed On Tap for iPhone and PubMed Mobile Pro for Android are each available for $2.99, and allow searches for full-text, evidence-based medical reference information on the go. Results can be saved and emailed.
Skyscape Medical Resources, available on both platforms for free, offers decision-support tools, outlines on hundreds of diseases and symptoms, journal summaries and clinical breaking news. It also has an RxDrugs app that offers information on thousands of medications, interaction information, dosing calculators and photos of pills. It is a large application, taking up significant memory space, Fletcher stressed.
Additional resources are available on Skyscape for varying fees, both for rental and purchase. These include Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Pocketpedia, The Rehabilitation Specialist’s Handbook, Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, Journal Watch, Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, Netter’s Atlas of Human Anatomy, 5-Minute Clinical Consult and Red Book.
The top-rated mobile drug reference for U.S. physicians, Epocrates Rx, is available for free on both platforms. A pill finder allows you to identify a pill by sight and get information on the medication, Fletcher said. Epocrates Rx also is a large application.
Lab Values Pro, available for iPhone, is offered for 99 cents. Users are able to edit and add notes to entries, however those edits are lost when the application is updated. Quick LabRef is available for the Android platform for free, and offers information in table formats. "This is very user-friendly, but you are not able to edit on the Android," Fletcher said.
ICD9 Consult 2012 Free, available for iPhone, offers searchable ICD-9 code sets. Find-A-Code ICD10/ICD9+GEMs, free for Android, also searches these codes. Both apps allow users to keep a "favorites" list. "It gets rid of that 30-pound book you have to carry around all the time," Fletcher said.
Finally, an app called Elder Abuse Resource Center by Far and Wide Software, available for the iPhone at $1.99, provides information on the seven types of elder abuse: physical, emotional, sexual, neglect, abandonment, financial exploitation and self neglect. It provides definitions, signs and follow-up strategies. "What’s also really nice about this application is the 'report,’" Fletcher said. "Right here under 'report,’ it gives you direct [phone] numbers. As clinicians, we are obligated to report abuse."
APTA session presenters, from left, Melanie Desumma, PT; Heather Fletcher, PT; and Matt Weber, PT
(Photo by Today in PT)
Doctor’s Toolbag by BMJ Publishing Group, available for iPhone for $6.99, offers a BMI calculator, MiniCog, Ottawa rules, geriatric depression scale, malnutrition screening tool and osteoporosis risk score. "It provides some of the fast and simple ways to give you the most effective rules in your clinical practice," said Matt Weber, PT, DPT. But, like Medscape, it is geared toward physicians, he said.
Clinical Prediction Rules: A Physical Therapy Reference by USBMIS Inc., sells on both platforms for $39.99. It offers descriptions and full-color pictures, but is not comprehensive. "We found this app to be great in the clinical setting and to aid the clinical PT," Weber said.
The Clinometer, available for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch for 99 cents, can be used as a goniometer by placing the phone directly on the patient. ROM Measurement is a similar tool available for Android for no cost. In addition to measuring spinal ROM, it can be used to document incline surfaces in environmental assessments. "If we can limit what we’re carrying with us, it really helps," Weber said.
Pocket Therapy by ScavoMed, available for iPhone only, at $2.99, offers detailed physical therapy instructions for the layperson for the 15 most common orthopedic injuries, including photos and video demonstrations of exercises, which is valuable for offering "visual stimulation" for a patient, Weber said.
iOrtho+ by Therapeutic Articulations, on both platforms for $14.99, or free for the "lite" version, is a reference for orthopedic tests and joint mobilization techniques. CORE (Clinical ORthopedic Exam) by Clinically Relevant Technologies sells on both platforms for $39.99 and offers more than 200 clinical tests for musculoskeletal and orthopedic disorders, with video and descriptions.
These smartphone platforms also offer a constantly growing hodgepodge of other apps that can be used in the clinical setting, such as Metronome for iPhone by Keaka Jackson, and Mobile Metronome for Android by Gabriel Simoes, which keep a beat during therapy treatments. Google Translate, available for free on both platforms, translates words and phrases between more than 60 languages. Words can be spoken into the device and translations heard. Dragon Dictation by Nuance Communications, free on iPhone, uses voice recognition to translate words into text five times faster than typing. •
Natasha Emmons is editor of Today in PT.
Share your thoughts: editor@TodayinPT.com
Monday April 9, 2012