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Coping with Info Overload using your Palm & RSS

Wired News: Aggregators Attack Info Overload is an interesting article which highlights the increasing popularity of “News Aggregators”. I don’t know about you, but I suffer from the “Not Enough Time” syndrome and anything which can save me from having to say, surf for information is most welcome. Lots of medical information is now available from Newsfeeds. These come in XML or RSS (rich site summary) format. You need to have a News Aggregator to be able to “pull” in the feeds of your choice. But having set the Aggregator, you no longer have to surf over to the sites for the articles you one. You can peruse the topic headings and selectively click on the links of your choice.

Now what about the Palm? There’s no news aggregator for Palm OS AFAIK. This is my solution:

1) I use Amphetadesk – which is a Web based News aggregator. It’s easy to setup and available on multiple platforms – Windows, Mac and Linux.

2) Having setup the Newsfeeds and getting Amphetadesk to work properly, you get to view all your “news channels” in a single web page (in my case it is http://127.0.0.1:8888/index.html – don’t bother clicking on this link – it opens only on your local machine)

3) I set iSiloX to convert http://127.0.0.1:8888/index.html to an iSilo document (0 link depth). The conversion is perfect and I can take my updated Amphetadesk aggregated News with me to browse offline.

Where to get Newsfeeds? A good place to start is Syndic8 where you can find Medical newsfeeds in XML/RSS format from sites like Moreover, Medscape and others. Sometimes, the description may be too brief and the drawback of this system is that clicking on the “link” in iSilo does not take you to the external web page obviously, but you can Copy & Paste the URL into a Webbrowser (I use WebBrowserPro on my T|T) if you happen to have Internet access (I use Bluetooth to connect with a Bluetooth enabled PC with ADSL access at work but you could do this say over GPRS or WiFi)

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Elton Billing

If you are interested in a billing solution, you might check out Elton Billing which is based on Pendragon Forms. Pendragon is another database solution for the Palm which allows you to desing database forms on the PDA and synchronize the data with server databases. The Elton billing solution is for gastroenterology or general use and is compatible with Access 97, 2000 and XP.

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Evidence Based Pearls

EBP 1.3 has been released in Palmgear.
Application Description:
Evidence Based Pearls (EBP) is the dynamic application you need for providing quality, evidence based care!
EBP provides you with the most important patient centered EBM research at the point of care; accessed through an easy to use interface.
Additionally, this program provides you with a portal to record your Personal Pearls into the EBP database, personalizing this application with your “little black book” of clinical information.
Quarterly, you receive an update of the database, without losing your Personal Pearls. Periodically, we will send you email alerts to keep you current on important medical research.
By having Evidence Based Pearls on your PDA, you will have on hand the information to provide quality care wherever you treat patients.
Our editorial board is comprised of primary care physicians, all of whom are clinical faculty at major medical teaching institutions and nationally recognized for their expertise in quality clinical care and Evidence Based Medicine.
Each topic is derived from a well-respected publication, analyzed by our board, and condensed into a “pearl”. Also included is an abbreviated abstract, and journal reference.
This tool will help you stay on top of the clinical information explosion by providing an analysis and summary of important, patient centered research.

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ER Suite and Medical Wizards

pdaMD.com features a review on ER Suite and Medical by an ER Nurse.

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Cardiology specials from Skyscape

If you are a cardiologist, you might be interested to know that Skyscape is having a special offer for cardiologists. The commercial (I am not getting paid for this, just passing on the good news!):
Save 15% when you buy ANY three or more titles! Maximize these best-selling titles when you cross-reference with other Skyscape-powered diagnosis, drug, and drug interaction references.

5mCardiac™, DrDrugs™, CrdBrdRev™
Use a mini-library in the palm of your hand with Skyscape’s special value packages! Improve your professional efficiency and save money with this special offer that includes three best selling titles. Discover the benefits of cross-indexing 5mCardiac (The AHA Clinical Cardiac Consult), the expert guide to common and rare cardiac abnormalities; DrDrugs (Drug Guide for Physicians), a premier drug guide; and CrdBrdRev (Cardiology Intensive Board Review), a highly focused question-and-answer review that is geared specifically to candidates taking the Cardiovascular Boards and the Cardiovascular section of the Internal Medicine Boards. Buy now and save!

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Anatomy 4.0

This is one subject which requires constant revision. What better way to do this than to carry the information in the Palm of your hand? Anatomy 4.0 has been updated and now supports database storage in the memory card (i.e. VFS support).

Application Description:Anatomy is a quick reference of human anatomy for the Palm OS. Ten databases describe the different body systems. The information in each database is categorized into different “Detail Views”.
The registered version will allow full access to all of the following databases:
Arteries, Veins , Lymphatics , Bones , Joints , Muscles , Brain Structures ,Nerves ,Visceral Organs ,Surface Anatomy

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Automated billing

Right now where I work, billing consultation is done manually and I have to fill in “vouchers”. If I forget, then my loss. Primitive workflow? You bet.
In the article on Brigham & Women’s Hospital Chooses Handhelds, the electronic solution utilising PatientKeeper sounds so elegant.
“According to PatientKeeper, the PatientKeeper Charge Capture Application Suite automates a billing process that typically relies on individual billing cards. Instead of jotting information on the cards, doctors use the PatientKeeper system to simply check off the customizable diagnosis codes and services performed on their handhelds. The PatientKeeper Clinical Application Suite consists of a variety of tools for reading and analyzing all types of patient data such laboratory results, medication lists, allergies, and clinical documentation.”

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HaemOncRules 1.1

I have released the updated version of HaemOncRules with 17 modules now. The new modules are:
– ECOG and Karnofsky scores
– Heparin dosing algorithm
– DVT diagnostic algorithm

You can get this freeware from Palmgear, Freewarepalm, Handango or my software page.

I look forward to more feedback and suggestions for improvement.

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Free Palm Medical Software

While surfing today, I stumbled across this page:
PalmDiary dot Com – Free Medical Palm Software which has a fairly long list of Palm Medical software. Some titles appear new to me and I will be checking these out.

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Baby check

We have all sorts of “trackers” for PalmOS now – track your BP, track your blood glucose etc. Now with FreewarePalm: BabyCheck v1.0 you can track your baby’s progress 🙂
Description:
Babies information administration.
Features:
– Weight and Height follow up during the 3 first years
– Visual check with the average values
– List of the first words
– Birth information: Weight, Height, Date and Time
– Zodiacal sign
– Firstname symbolic (lucky number, lucky period)
This program works in Kg or Lb, Cm or In.