We all know that the newest iPhones can do pretty incredible things. From finding you a house to buy, calculating your mortgage, paying bills, playing games, socializing, you name it, can do a lot.
But what amazes me is how much cool stuff you can use it for in the medical field. There’s an app for almost anything medical you need. I routinely use my phone for the following:
1). Calculating medicine dosages based on weight – it’s integrated right into the apps on drug information.
2). Checking for drug-drug interactions with the tap of a finger.
3). Calculating things such as the stroke score, the GCS, corrected sodium, and others.
4). Checking the visual acuity with an eye chart app.
5). Texting consultants images of EKGs, x-rays, rashes and other things to get a nearly instant answer on the question.
6). Using the flashlight app to check for pupillary response when patients are in rooms that do not have a functioning light ( not very uncommon sad to say).
7). Entertaining upset pediatric patients with pictures of my kids and other things on my phone.
8). Doing a quick check on the treatment options for various conditions I’m not so familiar with.
9). Doing a quick Google image search for various pathology and then comparing it to what I’m looking at in real time.
10). Finding nearby 24-hour pharmacy locations to give to patients
11). Showing patients pictures and instructions on how to do things such as the Epley Maneuver.
12). Calculate in the EDC for my patients last menstrual period on the OB wheel app.
Anyone have any other clever things that they do with their iPhone during a shift?
Let’s me read your website while waiting for a patient to wander into the pharmacy. ;)
Taking photos to show people who’ve fallen over and cut their head open what the damage/repair job looks like.
^^ best comment ever. Never thought of that.
I use my phone to make phone calls.
I know…I’m a smartass…I come by it genetically.
I’m not a doctor, but I’m a parent with a family full of asthmatics. There’s an app called Asthma MD that let’s me keep track of everybody’s peak flow numbers, and correlate them to medications and possible triggers. Definitely helpful during cold & flu season when we’re playing the “nebulize again or doctor?” game
My blood pressure requires monitoring, so I’ve been using an app that allows me to record BP, when it was taken, put in notes about activity/stress, etc. Then when I go to my internist, I can just whip out the iPhone and show him either numerically on a chart or bar graphs that show the fluctuations, highs and lows. It’s nothing fancy but it is quantitative, objective data over a period of time that is useful for him in determining a course of treatment or observation.
I use it for almost all the things you listed plus I play “Angry Birds” inbetween patients!
As a veterinary use, to show clients videos of what “reverse sneezing” in dogs is as it is a common complaint but totally benign condition – and often hard for clients to describe.
Also to show photos and identify plants that pets may have eaten.
I bang my iphone against my patients’ knees to check their reflexes :)
@Fizzy: Dr Grumpy would NOT approve. Unless he would. ;^)
That is a great idea Fizzy!
My chain pharmacy cut off all internet access to the outside world, so I rely on my iPhone to answer a plethora of questions and to provide optimal patient care and superior customer service (which is a goal of our chain… so why did they cut off internet access?).
But the question is…how do you keep from contaminating the iPhone with ER germs??
Frequent alcohol pad wipe-downs!
There is a new EKG app. I am waiting for an ultrasound probe that I can use with my ipad, though. I do have an app on my ipad that shows patients animated surgeries so that they can better understand how something is going to be fixed. Then, it allows me to email the handout to the client from the room.
Our cardiovascular surgeons use an app that takes pre-op data from the H&P and gives back risk of mortality.