Selected List of Free Medical PDA Software

Disclaimer: This is not intended to be a comprehensive list of medical PDA software, but is provided solely for the convenience of persons visiting the Academic IT & Libraries site. Provision of such PDA products is not an endorsement of these products.

For PDA software reviews, see the following:

Commercial sites with software reviews by users

http://www.palmgear.com/software To find medical PDA software, choose categories from the menu on the left.

Non-commercial sites with software reviews

http://www.handheldmedicine.ca/  Recommendations by the Handheld Hardware and Software committee at Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) for its Faculty of Medicine.

Alerts

CDC Spotlights
Author: Skyscape
Home: http://www.skyscape.com
Free

CDC Spotlights include all CDC-SARS health alerts, recommended responses, and an FAQ about SARS. The product also includes the latest information on signs and symptoms, treatments, as well as specific recommendations for prevention and control and will be updated frequently to include all the constantly changing SARS and other infectious disease information.

Requirements: Palm OS® 3.5 or higher: 1.2 MB; Windows Mobile™ 5/Pocket PC 2002/2003: 2 MB
Download page: http://www.skyscape.com/EStore/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=947

MedAlert
(for Palm OS, Windows Mobile, or Smartphone device)
Author: Skyscape
Home:http://www.skyscape.com
Free

Helps you stay up-to-date by delivering the latest medical information and breaking news by specialty directly to your PDA whenever you sync.

Requirements: Palm OS® 3.5 or higher: 0.99 MB;
Windows Mobile™ 5/Pocket PC 2002/2003: 1 MB
Download page: http://www.skyscape.com/estore/ProductDetail_MedAlertPda.aspx

MedWatch
(for Palm OS or Pocket PC)
Author: Skyscape
Home: http://www.skyscape.com
Free

MedWatch provides information from the FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program. It serves both healthcare professionals and the medical product-using public. MedWatch provides important and timely clinical information about safety issues involving medical products, including prescription and over-the-counter drugs, biologics, medical and radiation-emitting devices, and special nutritional products (e.g., medical foods, dietary supplements and infant formulas).

Requirements: Palm OS® 3.5 or higher: 1.2 MB; Windows Mobile™ 5/Pocket PC 2002/2003: 2 MB
Download page: http://www.skyscape.com/EStore/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=946

Books

The NCBI Bookshelf is now offering the following books to download to a handheld device.

• Blood Groups and Red Cell Antigens
• Clinical Methods
• Genes and Disease
• Health Services/Technology Assessment Text (HSTAT)
• Inflammatory Atherosclerosis: Characteristics of the Injuries

Author: National Library of Medicine. Available on the NCBI Bookshelf.
Home: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=Books
Free

Requirements: Palm Powered devices, Pocket PCs, Symbian phones and PCs, MobiPocket Reader
Download page: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query/Books.live/Help/mobile.html

Calculators

Archimedes (Palm OS or Pocket PC)
Author: Skyscape
Home: http://www.skyscape.com/
E-mail: For support, submit e-mail at http://www.skyscape.com/support/home.asp
Free

“An innovative specialty calculator, Archimedes is unlike any other program currently available. Forget having to remember complicated formulas, just enter the values and out come the results...With formulas ranging from Aa Gradient to Weights, our proprietary calculator provides you with 70 preprogrammed formulas that include specialties such as Cardiology, Pharmacology, Hematology, FEN, Pediatrics, Pulmonary and Renal.”

Requirements: Palm OS® 3.5 or higher: 1.1 MB; Palm OS® 3.5 or higher: 1.1 MB; Windows Mobile™ 5/Pocket PC 2002/2003: 0.83 MB; Windows Mobile™ 5/Pocket PC 2002/2003: 0.83 MB; Windows Smartphone: 0.83 MB; Windows 98/2000/ME/XP/Vista/Tablet PC: 2.7 MB
Download page:
http://www.skyscape.com/EStore/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=227

Drips Calculator v1.4 (Palm OS)
Author: Matt DeCaro
Home:
Email: Matthew.DeCaro@jefferson.edu
Freeware

Calculates IV doses for drugs. Allows use of multiple units e.g. lbs vs kg or mcg/kg/min vs mg/min. Can save frequently used patterns / drug mixes, and beam them.

Requirements: Palm OS v3.0 Size: 19KB
Download page: http://www.freewarepalm.com/medical/drips.shtml

EBM Calculator 1.1a (Palm OS or Pocket PC)
Author: Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine
Home: http://www.cebm.utoronto.ca/palm/ebmcalc/
Free

“EBM Calculator is designed to calculate relevant statistics for Diagnostic studies, Prospective Studies, Case Control Studies, and Randomized Control Trials (RCT). This is a palm version of the Stats Calculator. You can graph the pre-test probability and post-test probability with the calculated likelihood ratio in the Diagnostic Studies.”

Requirements: Palm OS 3.1 or later. 51k of memory if MathLib is already installed, 101K of memory if MathLib is not already installed on your Palm. Must agree to disclaimer to download at web site.

ICUMath Calculator (Palm OS)
Author: Terry Fagan
Home:
Email: usercs8046@aol.com
Freeware

Medical calculator for adult ICU that uses 85 medical equations, including pulmonary, cardiology, BNP CHF nomogram, pharmacokinetic dosing, renal, electrolyte, chemistry, nutrition, TPN, perioperative risk, biostatistics, acls, apache II, unit conversions, rules of thumb, and an RPN calculator with TVM.
Includes a drug buildup program, MDRD eGFR, a/A pO2

Requirements: Palm III, Palm OS v3.O, and MathLib Size: 136 KB Download page:http://www.freewarepalm.com/medical/icumath.shtml

MedCalc v5.2 (Palm OS or Windows Mobile)
Author: Mathias Tschopp
Home: http://www.med-ia.ch/medcalc/
Email: medcalc@hotmail.com
Freeware

MedCalc is a medical calculator designed for rapid calculation of more than 68 formulas. Formulas are sorted by categories and most come with bibliographic references and clinical-use tips. Results can be saved in a Palm OS database for later retrieval.

Requirements: A Palm OS compatible device running Palm OS 3 or later. Windows Mobile for Pocket PC. Size: 135 KB
Download page: http://www.med-ia.ch/medcalc/download.html

MedMath (Palm OS)
Author: Phillip Cheng, M.D.
Home: http://www.pdacortex.com/MedMath_Download.htm
Free

MedMath is " ...designed for rapid calculation of common equations used in adult internal medicine. It is capable of calculating complex quantities (e.g. Dubois formula for Body Surface Area) without resorting to external libraries such as MathLib. For certain quantities, alternate units can easily be selected."

Requirements:Palm OS 1.0 or higher. 40K of memory. Download at web site.

Pneumonia Severity Index Calculator (Palm OS or Pocket PC)
Author: AHRQ
Home: http://pda.ahrq.gov/clinic/psi/psi.htm
E-mail: info@ahrq.gov
Free

This program is an interactive tool to assist clinicians in determining the most appropriate care for newly diagnosed cases of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) at the point of care. It will help calculate the severity index of a pneumonia patient. The output includes mortality rates and pneumonia class types.

Requirements: Palm OS 3.x and above or Pocket PC Version 2002 and above

Cardiology

Palm EKG (Palm OS)
Author:
Home: http://palmekg.com/PalmEKG/
E-mail: PalmEMS@bruff.com
Free

“[An] Arrhythmia field guide…featuring 25 ECG/EKG arrhythmias. Includes Sinus Rhythms, Atrial Rhythms, Ventricular Rhythms, Atrioventricular Blocks, and Junctional Rhythms.

Requirements: 20k of memory. Palm OS 3.0 or higher. Must complete registration form to download software.

Clinical Information

Diagnosaurus (Palm OS or Pocket PC)
Author: McGraw-Hill
Home: http://books.mcgraw-hill.com/medical/diagnosaurus/index.html
Free

Provides medicine and surgery differential diagnosis content derived from the Current Lange series.

Requirements:
Palm (Windows and Mac): Palm OS version 3.5 or later, HotSync 3.1 or above, 0.8 Mb of handheld memory, Secure Digital (SD) cards and Sony Memory Sticks supported.

Pocket PC (Windows only): Pocket PC 2000, 2002, 2003, or 2003, ActiveSync 3.1 or higher, 1.1 Mb of handheld memory, Memory cards are supported. Registration required.
Download page: http://www.unboundmedicine.com/register/reg?cmd=diag&style.m=mh

Pneumonia Severity Index Calculator (Palm OS or Pocket PC)
Author: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Home: http://www.ahrq.gov
Free

This program is an interactive tool to assist clinicians in determining the most appropriate care for newly diagnosed cases of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) at the point of care. It will help calculate the severity index of a pneumonia patient. The output includes mortality rates and pneumonia class types.

Requirements: Pocket PC Version 2002 and above, or Palm OS 3.x and above.
Download page: http://pda.ahrq.gov/clinic/psi/psi.htm

Databases

Medline Database on Tap (formerly PubMed On Tap) (Palm OS or PocketPC)
Author: National Library of Medicine
Home: http://mdot.nlm.nih.gov/proj/mdot/mdot.php
Free

PubMed on Tap is an application for PDAs that facilitates Internet access to NLM's MEDLINE database using PubMed ultilies. PubMed on Tap is a developing application targeted at mobile health care professionals. The goal of our project is to discover and implement design principles that will facilitate practitioners' access to medical information at the point of service. Currently the application supports retrieval of MEDLINE® citations from a PDA through a wireless connection to the Internet.

Requirements: PDA’s and PDA/Cellphones with both Pocket PC and with Palm Operating Systems. The PDA or PDA/Cellphone must have a wireless connection to the Internet.
Download page: http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/pmot/pmot.php

NLM Mobile
Author: National Library of Medicine
Home: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mobile/
Free

NLM Mobile provides links to 4 NLM products for handheld device including Medline Database on Tap, PubMed for Handhelds Website, Wireless System for Emergency Responders (WISER), and NCBI Bookshelf.

Requirements: listed with each product

PubMed for Handhelds Website
Author: National Library of Medicine
Home: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mobile/
Free

PubMed for Handhelds Website was designed to search PubMed with the web browser of any mobile device.

Requirements: need to be connected to the internet, wired or wirelessly.

Click here to use: http://pubmedhh.nlm.nih.gov/nlm/

Drug Information

ePocrates Rx^TM Clinical Drug Database 6.0 (Palm OS or Window Mobile)
Author:
Home: http://www.epocrates.com
Free

Look for the version that says “Free”at the bottom of the page.  “Peer-reviewed drug information including off-label indications and formularies in an easy to use format.”  Includes over 2,800 drug monographs and formulary information. Need to register to download the free software.

Requirements: 3.0MB of memory. Register and download at https://www.epocrates.com/catalog.do.

Evidence Based Medicine

EMB2go (Palm OS or Pocket PC)
Author: PDA Consults
Home: http://www.ebm2go.com

Free with registration

EBM2go includes the following categories of information: medications, guidelines, evidence, plus medical tools for your handheld.

Family Medicine

Shots 2007 (Palm OS or Windows Mobile)
Author: Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
Home: http://www.immunizationed.org/AnyPage.asp?Page=Palm
Free

Shots 2007 is a quick reference guide to the 2007 Childhood Immunization Schedule, a collaboration of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and the 2006-2007 Adult Immunization Schedule, recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Details on each vaccine are available by clicking on the vaccine names.

Requirements:
Palm: Requires Palm OS® 5.0 or higher.  Memory requirements: 3.6Mb, 600Kb or 400Kb.
For information and directions go to http://www.immunizationed.org/anypage.aspx?pagename=shotspalm

Windows Mobile 5 : Requires a Pocket PC® PDA and approximately 1MB of memory. Shots 2007 for Pocket PC was developed with the new Microsoft .NET technology and utilizes a SQL Server Mobile 2005 database to hold the data. .NET applications require that the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework 2.0 be installed on the device before the application is installed. SQL Server Mobile 2005 will also need to be installed so Shots can access the database. These two components will take an additional 2.8MB of memory and can be installed using the links below.  If you already have these components installed you will NOT need to install them again.
For information and directions go to http://www.immunizationed.org/anypage.aspx?pagename=shotspocketpc

Emergency Medicine

Cinci ACS (for Palm OS)
Author: Michael Ward, MD, MBA
Home: http://www.handhelddoc.com/
Free

Continuing in the tradition of EM Rules, Sepsis EGDT and Cinci Stroke, Cinci ACS is our newest project designed to help practitioners with the management of Acute Coronary Syndrome. Cinci ACS is based on the 2007 guidelines put out by the AHA for STEMI, non-STEMI and Unstable Angina management.

Cinci Stroke (for Palm OS)
Author: Michael Ward, MD, MBA
Home: http://www.handhelddoc.com/
Free

Continuing in the tradition of EM Rules and Sepsis EGDT, Cinci Stroke is our newest project designed to help practitioners with the management of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Cinci Stroke is based on the 2007 guidelines put out by the AHA for acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

EM Rules (for Palm OS)
Author: Michael Ward, MD, MBA
Home: http://www.handhelddoc.com/
Free

EM Rules is a compendium of decision rules, calculators, scores and frequently forgotten tables designed for the Emergency Practitioner. Additionally, some of the decision rules have a discussion section. This allows the medical provider to not only use the tool, but learn when and how this rule or score is most valuable.

Sepsis EGDT (for Palm OS)
Author: Michael Ward, MD, MBA
Home: http://www.handhelddoc.com/
Free

Sepsis EGDT is a program designed for implementation of Early Goal Directed Therapy (EGDT). This program includes information about antibiotics, steps to complete EGDT, adjunct therapies and walks the clinician through EGDT.

Hazardous Substances

Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER)(Palm OS or Pocket PC)
Author: National Library of Medicine Specialized Information Services
Home: http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/
Free

WISER is a system designed to assist first responders in hazardous material incidents. WISER provides a wide range of information on hazardous substances, including substance identification support, physical characteristics, human health information, and containment and suppression advice.

Requirements:
Registration is required for update purposes: "...updates to substance data may be made as more research is conducted. We would like to inform you of important changes in the datqa, some of which may be critical for the safe use of the information."

Palm: Requires a device with Palm OS version 3.5 or above. It has been tested on devices running Palm OS 3.5.3, 4.0, 4.1, and 5.2.1. It has also been tested on the Palm OS emulator and simulator.

PocketPC: Requires a Pocket PC 2002 or Pocket PC 2003 device; the recommended configuration is a Pocket PC 2003 (version 4.x of the Windows CE operating system) with 64MB or more of RAM

For those with wifi, the web version of WISER, WebWISER is also available at http://webwiser.nlm.nih.gov/getHomeData.do

Medicine

Diagnosaurus (Palm OS or Pocket PC)
Author: McGraw-Hill
Home: http://books.mcgraw-hill.com/medical/diagnosaurus/index.html
Free

Provides medicine and surgery differential diagnosis content derived from the Current Lange series.

Requirements:
Palm (Windows and Mac): Palm OS version 3.5 or later, HotSync 3.1 or above, 1.1 Mb of handheld memory, Secure Digital (SD) cards and Sony Memory Sticks supported.

Pocket PC (Windows only): Windows Mobile (All platforms), ActiveSync 4.0 or later (Win XP or earlier), 1.1 Mb of handheld memory, Memory cards are supported.
Download page: http://www.unboundmedicine.com/register/reg?cmd=diag&style.m=mh

eMedicine (Palm OS or Pocket PC)
Author: eMedicine
Home: http://www.imedicine.com/default.asp
Free to UC faculty, students & staff

To access eMedicine, please call the Information Desk (558-5628), the Circulation Desk (558-0127) or Edith Starbuck (558-1433) to obtain the account number that activates the account.

eMedicine, created by over 7,000 physician authors and editors, contains thousands of peer-reviewed, disease specific articles covering 65 specialties. eMedicine also includes PDA/Palm textbook download capablities, a personalized education update system, a high-resolution collection of over 10,000 pictures, and 40,000 hours of institutional discounted CME, CE, and OCEU for physicians, nurses, and pharmacists.

Requirements: Mobipocket Reader
Download page: http://www.imedicine.com/pda_list.asp where you download Mobipocket Reader

Eponyms (Palm OS or Pocket PC)
Author: Dr. Andrew J. Yee, Dr. Mathias Tschopp
Home:
Freeware

A list of 1,550 common and obscure medical eponyms (e.g., Rovsing's sign, Virchow's node) with descriptions.

Requirements: see download page

Download page:http://eponyms.net/eponyms.htm

MD Consult (Palm OS or Pocket PC)
Author: MD Consult
Home: http://www.mdconsult.com
Free to UC faculty, students & staff

MD Consult's PDA/ POCKET Consult provides a daily summary of current medical news; weekly drug alerts; the lastest abstracts from hundreds of journals; integrated access to any Elsevier eDition books on your PDA; and the ability to record, store, and initiate searches on MD Consult right from your Palm OS or Pocket PC handheld device.

Requirements: Set up a Personal Account and then set up PocketConsult