The Palmdoc Chronicles

A 2009 TEDMED lecture by Eric Topol (via Kevin MD)

RizP who previously reviewed Lexi-Comp, has come out with an excellent Review of Epocrates for WebOS. He’s spot on with his comments except the bit about Epocrates taking 15 seconds to launch. With WebOS 1.4, Epocrates launches quite briskly, under 5 seconds now. The app is now missing OTAs or Over The Air updates but I expect this will be implemented in future versions. The conspicuous thing missing from the PalmOS version is Epocrates Mobile CME, something which is useful for the physician on the go.
Overall however, Epocrates WebOS is indeed an excellent and indispensable medical resource. If you own a WebOS device you MUST get it.

Over the weekend, Palm has been rolling out another update for it’s WebOS operating system. Unlike some other fruity company’s devices, Palm’s updates come over-the-air or OTA, and Palm has been doing this regularly every 1-2 months since the Palm Pre was launched 8 months ago.
With each new OS version, there has been a steady slew of enhancements in terms of features as well as performance. In the latest version, Palm has notably included video capture, editing and recording. The browser now renders web pages much faster and the whole user interface feels more snappy. Medical users will be pleased to know that apps like Epocrates also perform faster under 1.4, a fact noticed by Precentral forum participants.
Want to get a Palm Pre but the device is not officially launched in your country by any carrier yet? This hasn’t deterred users who have purchased unlocked GSM Palm Pres from O2 Germany (walk into any O2 shop if you happen to be in Germany or you can buy online from Expansys). One catch is that the App Catalog may be inaccessible or one sees very few apps due to some geo-restriction policies applied by Palm. However, this hasn’t stopped enterprising users who have found a way to access free applications in the catalog, something Palm should not have restricted anyway. So if you are in Timbuktu and the only Palm Pre user there, fret not, for even you can now download and install Epocrates and other great freeware from the official App Catalog!

If you haven’t yet managed to try Epocrates Beta for WebOS or you if don’t own a WebOS device, here’s the demo video from Epocrates:

Epocrates (beta) for Android is also available and you can view the demo here (hat tip to @mikecane)

Spies in Precentral say Epocrates for webOS Imminent

The app is actually out in a beta to a small group of testers. Some have publicly commented in our forums that the app is “FAST,” while anonymously we hear that the app will include the standard Epocrates features plus Med Math, Interactions, their pill finder, and plenty of tables. The app, as you can see at right, also follows the webOS ethic of “just start typing” to search everything.
Since webOS can, you know, fully multitask, medical professionals will be able to leave the app open in the background (where we’re told it doesn’t appear to consume much in the way of resources) to give it faster access than what is available on the iPhone platform.
Mullrat in our forums says that an Epocrates rep said the app was submitted to Palm for approval - so all we need do now is wait. Luckily webOS users have plenty of practice in that regard.

In the meantime you can drool on the screenshot

or check out this link in PreCentral (and also in MyAppBox)

Edit: In case you didn’t click the links above, to make it clear, Epocrates Beta has been released. Download the beta here direct to your WebOS device.

I have decided to release OncoPDA quickly as a beta app which you can install directly on your WebOS phone. This is because using WebOS Quick Install or Preware might be too daunting for some, and since Palm provides developers a way to get the apps out quickly before the review process, I thought I’d take advantage of it. When the beta is spruced up, it will be moved into the App catalog (for review).

So here is the link:
OncoPDA for WebOS

Enjoy and don’t forget to provide me feedback.

Edit Feb 24, 2010:
Just had feedback from Charles who wrote in to say it “does not seem to install correctly and even though the icon shows up on my Verizon Pre Plus Launcher, it does not work”.
I’d like to hear from other Palm Pre Plus users if they encountered similar problems.
Edit Feb 25, 2010:
Charles and another twitter user confirm that they can install and use OncoPDA on the Palm Pre Plus. I am now waiting to hear from Pixi and Pixi Plus users.

PS If you haven’t tried MediPDA which is in the App Catalog, you can also install it directly on your WebOS phone using this link

Chad posted this comment and I thought I’d highlight this in the blog for further discussion

Can anyone debate Android vs Palm Pre. I will start an IM Residency soon and would like to purchase one of these verizon phones. From what I have read Android may be better for medical apps, Palm Pre Plus is newer with 16 GB memory, so apps may be coming?

Hi Chad. While Android is a good platform, I am not quite sure why one might rate it better for medical applications. WebOS is barely 7 months old and we have seen an explosion of applications, including medical ones.
The round-up by Precentral mentioned these apps in the official Palm App Catalog:
- PEPID
- Lexi-comp On Hand
- Daily Dose of Medical Knowledge
- Dose
- MediPDA (freeware by yours truly)
- Lab Values
There’s also the homebrew (where enthusiasts release early betas, and include some really great software):
- Drugview
- OncoPDA
- Gray’s Anatomy
Where’s Epocrates you might ask? It’s coming. They just recently had another round of closed beta testing and from what I know you will be very pleased with the product.
On top of that, you can run practically all your old medical applications under Classic, the WebOS emulator for Garnet (PalmOS). Version 2.12 of Classic is excellent and includes a Backup and Restore feature as well as the ability to sync over Wifi with Palm Desktop (and third party conduits).

I have tested out Android and while it is multi-tasking like WebOS, somehow I find the UI clunky and not as elegant as WebOS. I guess it is up to personal preference, but if you are on Verizon, I would suggest you take a close, hard look at the Palm Pre Plus.

Yes completely free - free as in beer. Our friends at iMedicalApps have posted the Top 10 Free iPhone Medical Apps for Health care Professionals. According to iltifat, this list isn’t a re-hash of the App Store rankings and it’s actually done by medical professionals.
From what I can see this is a great list and number one is Medscape with Epocrates a second.
Epocrates should be launching for WebOS soon but the WebMD/Medscape app looks really good and I hope they will consider doing one for WebOS as well.

One of the things about the medical profession is having to be careful about who knows your mobile number. If it gets into the wrong hands, then one might get disturbed or harassed by an endless number of phone calls at odd hours, including folks who deem every ache and pain to be a medical emergency. The worst ones I had were late night calls because “running out of medicines” and “forgot the appointment” were “medical emergencies”!
While the iPhone claims that “there’s an App for that” for practically everything, the Palm Pre has an active homebrew community, and what the stock OS does not have, we can say “there’s a patch for that”. Homebrewer elryon steps on the plate with his contribution Call Block/Ignore patch. This patch will will automatically reject any call that comes in and is listed as a number for a contact with the name: ‘Do Not Answer’. All one has to do is to install the patch (easiest via WebOS Quick Install, or via Preware if you already have Preware installed) , do a reset (Luna reset or full reboot), create a new contact called Do Not Answer, and add numbers or link other contacts to that contact profile as desired. The phone will not ring and will drop the unwanted call.
The patch will also prevent notification of missed calls which have been blocked.
It’s a functional patch but I do believe there could be some improvements. At the moment it doesn’t work if you have a bluetooth headset on and there could be added filtering for blocked Caller ID numbers or numbers not in your Contact list.

PDA/Smartphone users - if you want a quick-reference guide to the Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedules, you now can visit the Shots 2010 mobile website. This mobile Web application is compatible with iPhone and iTouch devices, the Blackberry Storm and the Palm Pre. Users can access additional details (adverse reactions, administration, contraindications etc. ) about the vaccines by clicking on the vaccine name.
PalmOS and WebOS users can download versions for their devices - the WM version is available for free now but the PalmOS one will appear a few weeks late
- via AAFP News