 Sept. 30 - Oct. 2, 2003 |
| ASSEMBLY EDITION • NEW ORLEANS |
A PDA -- personal digital assistant -- is to medical practice in 2003 what a stethoscope was in 1903: an essential tool. But this 21st century tool has bonus features that make it particularly appealing to today's family physician: It saves time and helps prevent errors, said Michael Tuggy, M.D., director of Swedish Family Medicine in Seattle.
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Michael Tuggy, M.D.: |
"And it is so easy to use," said Tuggy. "My wife is a computer-phobe, but it took her just two days before she was using her PDA in her pediatric clinic." Tuggy and E. Chris Vincent, M.D., a faculty member at Swedish Family Medicine, walked family physicians through the basics of PDA use in their two-hour computer class, "Putting Your PDA to Work for Your Practice," on Wednesday. Both are clinical associate professors of family medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The class, which requires an additional fee, will repeat today from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m.; check at registration for ticket availability. Workshop attendees participate in a hands-on demonstration using either their own PDAs or demo PDAs provided by Tuggy and Vincent.
Most physicians know the PDA is useful for storing phone numbers, addresses and daily schedules, but Vincent said its medical uses are far more important. For example, several drug databases can be downloaded to PDAs. Some are free, while others require a subscription fee. "I suggest trying one or two services as a trial before paying for a subscription," Vincent said.
Tuggy said drug databases are the first and most basic of the PDA tools, "and they can be used at bedside or in the exam room." For example, "you can plug in all the patient's prescriptions and immediately identify drug-drug interactions as well as drug side effect profiles," he said. Moreover, the prescription can be written on the PDA and printed out at the front desk.
Other downloadable systems can be used to help in diagnosing patients. "You put in the symptoms, and the program will identify the differential diagnosis," Tuggy said.
More advanced PDAs have video capacity, said Tuggy. His own PDA, for example, has videos illustrating procedures, such as breast aspiration, that he can use when teaching residents. "But I also have patient education videos that show, for example, joints and illustrate various types of joint injury," he said.
The time-saving aspects of PDA use include the "office-at-home" capability that makes most physicians true believers, said Tuggy. "It's amazing -- when you get called at home, you can have all the needed information at your fingertips." In hospitals with wireless networks, "you can download all the information that you need while walking to the patient's room," he said.
In addition to patient records, the PDA can be downloaded with billing and coding software, risk assessment software, and treatment guidelines, Tuggy and Vincent said.
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