Physiatry Practice Management Resources

Move beyond the basics with easy-to-learn programs that manage patient data.

Many physicians spend significant time working outside the office, visiting nursing homes, hospitals and other facilities. For these times, there are excellent software programs for personal digital assistants (PDAs) that allow physicians to carry a subset of patient data beyond the office as well as input information gathered outside the office for future use.

For example, I use PDA software to track allergies, problems and medications taken by my patients at a nearby nursing home. These elderly patients' medications can change between visits because they see many subspecialty doctors. With my PDA I am able to capture these changes and ensure my office records are up-to-date.

This article discusses some useful patient-tracking programs as well as a program that allows easy database creation on either Palm or Pocket PC devices.

Mini Medical Records

Tracking the care of patients in nursing homes, hospitals and other facilities is easier with a Palm or Pocket PC PDA and some easy-to-learn patient-tracking software. These programs enable you to carry a subset of your office records into the nursing home or other facility, where you can then input or modify information at the point of care. If you're at a hospital, the same programs allow sophisticated input of laboratory and diagnostic data in addition to the basic information mentioned above.

The two programs described below are representative of patient-tracking programs and their capabilities.

PatientKeeper Personal

This was one of the first patient-tracking programs for the Palm platform and has been improving ever since. Although the company now sells an expanded array of products, PatientKeeper Personal is still sold as an inexpensive stand-alone patient-tracking program. It keeps track of patient demographics, problem lists, medications, lab and test orders and results, and tasks.

Highlights include the ability to print and back up patient data. Patient data can also be beamed from one Palm to another, thereby encouraging teamwork and reducing information workload.

Designed with hospital work in mind, this program would also be ideal to use while caring for patients in nursing homes or other facilities.

A trial version is available (see "Sidebar: Give Them a Try," below, for more information). It doesn't expire, but many features in the trial version are either limited or disabled. The full version of PatientKeeper Personal costs about $40. The company also sells an expanded version that can link physicians with hospital systems; it is much more expensive, depending on which features are added.

Mobile MedData Charts

Although not quite as sophisticated as PatientKeeper Personal, Mobile MedData Charts does a nice job. It can track patient demographics, allergies, medications, problem lists, and lab tests and studies ordered and received, as well as other information. The pick lists of problems and medications can be customized. I use the stand-alone version on my Pocket PC.

A trial version of Mobile MedData Charts is available for Palm or Pocket PC (see "Give them a try" below). The full stand-alone version costs about $100. A desktop version that can be integrated with hospital systems is $599.