A significant barrier to more physicians adopting personal digital assistants (PDAs), such as Palm devices, is the prohibitive cost of the software necessary to run them.
True
False
According to a recent poll, the approximate percentage of physicians in the U.S. who say they use a personal digital assistant (PDA) daily is:
A.
10%
B.
25%
C.
50%
D.
75%
PDAs can help reduce errors by reducing physician reliance on memory.
Having a portable drug database on a handheld device can reduce medication errors by determining which of the following:
which medication is safe for a patient
how a medication will interact with other medications the patient is already taking
possible allergies the patient may have to a medication
all of the above.
Because PDAs are carried by a physician at all times, there is no need to be concerned about compromising confidential patient records.
A survey by the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine found that the percentage of internists with handhelds who use them to access drug information is:
15%
30%
80%
Patient data cannot be stored on a handheld because the information will not be HIPAA-compliant.
PDAs have found their way into the following areas of healthcare delivery:
medical schools
operating rooms
solo practices
Physician notes created and stored on a PDA may be discoverable in a lawsuit.
The primary elements to look for in a PDA drug reference include:
drug name lookup
correct dosages
drug interactions
