August 5, 2004 09:34 PM
Review: ePocrates Rx Pro (Windows Mobile version)

ePocrates is already very well-known to most of our readers. It has provided an excellent product, known as ePocrates Rx for several years, initially to the PalmOS platform, and subsequently expanded to include the Windows Mobile (Pocket PC) platform as well. Most users of PalmOS devices are used to the free ePocrates Rx application. The company continues to innovate and expand its product line, now including ePocrates Rx Pro. This version has obviously more features than the free version: alternative medicine monographs and interactions, 60+ clinical tables and treatment guidelines, Infectious Diseases guide, MedMath clinical calculator (PalmOS version only). Below I will review the Windows Mobile version, but most comments also apply to the PalmOS version.

Installation

Essentially no problems here. A 2.9 mb executable was downloaded, and easily installed. The PDA client requires you to use your login/password so that it can get the formularies you select.

In the preferences settings, there are few but well-thought options, including my sought-after left-sided scrollbar option. I am sure there is a left-handed employee there, but certainly this is a welcome feature, and should be standard in the operating system itself. Being able to set where the default "home" is also makes sense, and saves some precious seconds each time the application is launched.

Usage

ePocrates creates 2 icons on the "Programs" folder: "ePocrates Rx Pro" starts the application per se, and "ePocrates AutoUpdate" configures the server-related settings.

Once ePocrates is launched, a standard disclaimer comes up, which can be bypassed later. After tapping OK, a neat-looking "home" screen is brought up. There are 4 tabs on the top area: Drugs, Alt Meds, Tables and MedTools.

Drugs is the tab that most users will use the most. Here a drug can be queried using the search bar, or the user has the option of browsing the index by drug class.

Interestingly, the trade names and generic names are listed side-by-side, which is certainly a plus. But the left column contains the the trade names, so the list is indexed by trade names. Some people may prefer this, but there should be an option to sort by trade name or by generic name.

The Med Tools tab has the DocAlert function, which is essentially a messaging system, with important news, such as drug recalls, software updates, etc. Doc Memo is a note-taking application, with several categories. I did not find this part to be of big help, since notes can be tied with the drugs being investigated, and other more general notes can be stored using the standard notes application included with the operating system.

The last of the Med Tools is quite interesting. Epocrates ID is the bundled ID guide, that lists the most common presentations by system, by pathogen and by antibiotic drug. The browsing option by system is nicely divided into adult and child presentations, given the obvious differences in microbiology and treatment options.

Treatment options are listed in the order of preference, and the drugs are linked to the drug database. The "back" feature does work and keeps the user from getting lost and having to search for the disease in question again.

There are good critical things about some infections that should be noted, and ePocrates does an excellent job by putting these notes in red and on top of everything else.

The tables provided with the application vary in quality, but most of them are excellent. The big issue is that these are not real tables, they are lists with multi-level entries. I admit that having real tables is a very difficult class, but when data is displayed as a list it confuses things a bit. Also, data cited in some tables are not very reliable from a scientific point of view; for example, the statin comparison table lists how much the cholesterol values are altered by the drug, but the data is obtained from the package insert, so it would be nice to have these values come from published, independent papers.

An example of a good table is the vaccines table, which lists the diseases and the timing of vaccination.

After the user exits the program, it is also nice that it remembers "where" the user was, such as viewing a specific drug.

Summary

ePocrates Rx Pro is an excellent choice for a drug-reference program. The choice of formularies is vast. The software is well designed, and the user can easily find information. Compared to competitors (Tarascon, for example) it may be slightly superior in terms of content, but both are comparable.

Pros:
- Alternative medicines are definitely advantegous, in a time when many patients are taking very diverse self-prescribed substances which may interfere with traditional drugs.
- Left-sided scrollbars as an options (thank you very much)
- Formularies
- Auto-update function
- Clean, polished interface

Cons:
- Expansion cards not supported for the Windows Mobile platform
- Price is higher when compared to competitors

Rating:

Manufacturer:
Pricing: 1-year subscription for US$59.99
System Requirements: Pocket PC: 4.0 MB (4,000K) minimum + 10K per formulary selected (expansion cards not supported)

Posted by leo at August 5, 2004 09:34 PM

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