When Dr. Jordan Warren started his career in medicine about 15 years ago, he had to work around for any information that he wanted. Everything from drug interaction to going over patient medical history took much longer than what it does today. As physicians of yesteryears would remember, the white coats of doctors would be loaded with reference books and manuals.
Times have changed rapidly. Now, almost every doctor has a smartphone that has become a gateway to all types of information they need 24/7. There are dozens of medical reference apps available in the market that help doctors do their work. In fact, there are so many apps available that there can be a sense of app overload. Katherine T. Chen, MD, MPH, Icahn School of Medicine, who has extensively researched on apps, talks about some of the apps that are easily available and free. Let’s take a look at some of the more popular ones.
- Estimated due date calculator (EDD calculator) is a popular ACOG app that collects data from the last menstrual period and first accurate ultrasound to determine the estimated due date of delivery. She says “There were many apps available in the market but we realized that many of those apps did not throw up the correct due date if it was a leap year. Inaccuracy was a big concern. Also, earlier physicians had to make some mental calculations in the head but now the app has made the calculations easier.”
- Medscape: Most physicians know about Medscape, but it deserves a mention here. It is a leading medical resource that helps physicians find any clinical information. In fact, it is the fastest growing mobile app for physicians with more than 4 million registered users.
- Epocrates: Similar to Medscape, Epocrates is also a very popular app that helps physicians review drug and safety information. It is a trove of drug related information such as finding if a particular drug has any black box warnings, adverse reactions, and contraindications.
- MediBabble: It is another interesting app that is free and helps physicians with medical interpretations. This app ensures that any physician who checks the medical history of non-English speaking patients is able to do so with ease without misunderstanding a word that the patient is saying. Any physician would know that an accurate and timely diagnosis of disease is the cornerstone of treatment.
Watch the video for all the Apps recommended by Dr. Chen. She talks about some critical non-medical apps that are quite useful like Dropbox, Evernote, and Canopy. CDC Apps, like Obgyn, and Group B Strep are also popular. Then, there are patient apps. For instance, for a young menstruating woman, ACOG provides menstrual cycle tracking app, and contraction app for a pregnant patient.
Which apps do you use in your day to day routine? Please share in the comments below.
