Dr. webOS will see you now - Lexi-Comp and PEPID in the App Catalog 32
Sat, 13 Feb 2010 7:43 pm EST 
Attention doctors: Feel like getting your medicine on? webOS is here to help, with two new apps arriving recently in the Palm App Catalog to assist you with your doctorly needs.
First up is PEPID, a free app from PEPID. Wrapped inside this app are several medical tools including calculators for dosing, a drug interactions generator, a drug database that includes some 7500 different drugs, and more than 800 illustrations. There’s even a differential diagnosis calculator - for the non-doctor types, think House, M.D., but as a purely analytical phone. While the PEPID app itself is free, it is in reality a 14-day trial of their subscription service. PEPID offers a number of add-on packages that enhance the abilities of the software, including specialized packages for Emergency Medicine, Registered Nurses, study guides, Oncology, and more. Packages start at $89.95 for 9 months access, with longer packages available at a discounted rate.
The other medical app we’re going to talk about today is Lexi-Comp ON HAND, which we’re just going to call Lexi-Comp for short. The app, by the company of the same name, specializes in providing raw data to physicians of all varieties. Currently (and finally) available for the low cost of free from the App Catalog, Lexi-Comp comes with 30 days of free access to the popular Lexi-Drugs and Lexi-Interact databases. These clinical databases, as you might imagine, provide detailed in-depth data for thousands of drugs and detail interactions between different drugs in the same patient. While Drugs and Interact are the only two databases available for the webOS version of Lexi-Comp at this time, they expect to have many more packages available in the coming months. Currently, a one-year subscription to Lexi-Drugs and Lexi-Interact will cost $115.00, with discounts available for two- and three-year subscriptions.
Lexi-Comp and PEPID aren’t the only games in the medical town for webOS users. There are several other medical apps available in the App Catalog, some of you’ll find below:
- Daily Dose of Medical Knowledge, $3.99, by Brim: A daily dose of high-level medical info complete with references.
- Dose, $0.99, by J@ckpot ideas: Medical dosage calculator created with the nurse and nursing student in mind.
- French-English Medical Dictionary, $49.99, by Ultralingua: In the event that you find yourself conversing with a French doctor (or if you’re a Francophone, with an English doctor).
- Lab Values, $4.99, by Vimukti Technologies: Access more than 150 common laboratory values.
- MediPDA, Free, by Palmdoc.net: Modular medical calculator with commonly used calculations and medical algorithms.
So doctorly types, with PEPID and Lexi-Comp ON HAND both available now and Epocrates on its way, is your webOS device becoming a better tool for your profession - especially with that delicious multitasking in tow - or is it still lacking for your purposes?
32 Comments
Dr. it hurts when i do THIS
Then don't do that.
LOL
Lexi-Comp is out for europe. You need to install another 70mb worth of files though.. installing now, so we'll see how good it is.
PEPID, is also out in europe!, downloading :)
Skyscape makes the best stuff though, if they could bring their stuff to palm pre then it would be wicked! but don't know many doctors with the Pre, all have iphones :(
all the docs I know have blackberries or are hanging on to their old, cracked, beat up, outdated Treo's. Thank goodness some good medical apps are available. Medical professionals were early adopters and champions of the initial PDAs and helped build companies like Palm.
Now if ePocrates would just hurry up and get here....
I am sick of waiting
@ Derek:
Usually love your reviews, even if I don't always agree with your opinion, but you did something in this one that makes me scratch my head. You said, "Lexi-Comp ON HAND, which we
Really? Stop over-thinking mister.
Professionals need to look at the detail. We all get better when we are corrected.
I'm a doctor with a pre (and loving it). I have been getting frustrated with the lack of medical apps. I will look at these two, but I would alert ppl to keep in mind that epocrates (the gold standard in pharm lookup) will be released "soon", whatever "soon" is. I have no doubt that there will be a free and pro version, they have done so for every platform they have developed, why stop now.
+1
Epocrates may be your gold standard, but that doesn't mean it's any good. Lexi-Comp has been around just as long and, IMO, is a better product and far more comprehensive drug database (albeit at increased $$$).
hey all, it wasn't mentioned in the article, but I did a review of Lexi-comp back in Nov, in case you're debating the d/l: http://www.precentral.net/real-review-lexi-comp
I have been waiting for a serious medical app for a while. From what I have used of Lexi-comp it is great. I tried out PEPID and I wasn't a huge fan. I am really curious what epocrates is bringing to the table, especially since my med school gives it to us for free. This is great news for Palm. I talked to some MD's about their iphones and medical tools and they say they don't like it at all. So hopefully this will get some attention. Maybe verizon will do some ads geared for professionals showing off multitasking and professional apps like this!
MyTouch ads come to mind...
I'm in the medical field and I can't wait for the native SkyScape software for WebOs. Sure I own and utilize the subscription running on Classic but honestly its truly lacking. While I have access to the information, Classic takes longer to boot than the Pre does. Classic crasshes constantly, even when its usully the only card open. Worst is when it freezes and locks the Pre down when I'm reviewing medications or with a Client. Only way to remedy it is to remove the battery for 60 seconds and reboot. The classic app alone takes up about a third of the Pre's screen leaving a limited area to view my medical software. Motion should consider releasing the version of classic they have for the Pixi for the Pre. And SkyScape should let the led out, when I chcked with them back in September they said there should be a WebOs version soon.
We need epocrates. Funny that epocrates made its name on palm, and we still dont have it.
To find them, open app catalog and start typing the app name.
Am I missing something? i don't see neither of these apps listed in the app Catalog.
I miss the comprehensive and configurable MedCalc calculator. There is an iPhone version -still free!-, and I hope it is easy to move to webOS :-)
You know, for as much attention as medical apps on mobile devices seem to garner (dating back to all the fans of the PalmOS medical apps), I've yet to see a doctor use one. Ever. I've seen more than my fair share of doctors over the years (for myself, kids, family, etc) in a variety of medical specialties, and I've never seen one whip out a smartphone or PDA. Is my experience unusual, or are these types of things more popular for medical students> rather than doctors?
If you are seeing older Docs, they might not be tech savy enough to have instant access to tons of information on a peripheral brain like a pda/smartphone. Or maybe the look it up outside the room, perhaps they don't want you to see them have to look things up. Lots of Docs use these programs.
Docs will rarely use it when they are with the patient. It is generally considered disrespectful to look at a device rather than your patient (although this may be changing with digital medical records) and it doesn't always give patients confidence if their doctor is constantly looking stuff up.
Trust me it is used. The amount of medical information that there is now is totally unwieldly, references like this are crucial!
As a medical oncologist in Spain I used it daily to calculate BSA, GFR and drug dose corrected for BSA or AUC (all with MedCalc). Besides being pocketable, it was way faster than any web based calculator. Along with ePocrates -free version- it was my most used medical Palm app.
When your Doctor leaves you after an exam and then comes back in a few minutes to tell you what their recommendation is, they're actually back at the nearest nursing station looking something up on their phone :-)
I've never known a Doctor or even Med Student for that matter that *didn't* have a PDA or smartphone of some sort, but as Complex Pants mentioned it's usually considered very impolite to access something like that in front of a patient. After all, have you ever seen a Doctor whip out a copy of the PDR while they were talking to you?
I must disagree with rseyedoc. I am also a physician but would by no means consider Epocrates to be the "gold standard in pharm lookup". I'd consider it to be the "tin standard", in that it's cheap and weak. The content in Lexi Drugs is much more robust; you get what you pay for. (The only big advantages that Epocrates has, IMHO, are pill ID & pictures.)
I 100% agree! Posted my comment before I saw yours.
I would encourage everyone to give Lexi-Comp a shot before waiting on Epocrates to show up. It's not free, but it's a much better product, IMO.
It's unfortunate that all of the modules are not converted over as it's quite a powerful product in that setting.
I imagine its only a matter of time before Lexi COMPLETE makes its way over to WebOS...
Concur. I have used Lexi x 15 yrs and keep trying new kids on the block like Epocrates Pro, etc...to ensure I am not missing something. I keep coming back to Lexi. No drug data base is better, and patients like to see me double check data; I have never had patients express concern that I am ensuring they receive the right treatment.
Only concern with current software is long load time (30+ sec). Once the app is in the background, it processes quickly though.
Need to see an OB wheel with OB patient list next for a medical app.
Noteworthy, I just saw my first sighting of a Verizon Palm Pre Plus Ad at PreCentral (right here, right now, on this page!). Great to see more companies advertising the phone!
Back to the news topic. It is good to see more apps for our European friends.
Congratulations to the Lexi-Comp crew!
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