I have posted my thoughts on medications a few times several months ago and I have had both good experience and bad experience with medicine as far as the part of recovery and side effects that go with it....when I was not feeling well a couple of months ago and I had a hard time talking as well as a sore throat, the physician prescribed for me this robitussin forumula that had codein in it. I like the part where I felt better but after a few days on this medicine, I had the side effects one of them being that I had a high fatique level which could have been from the robitussin itself since that may have a tendency to do that to certain people. Then the doctor took me off it and put me on something else and I was able to stay awake for longer periods like I should....
Now there is more of a source to get information about medications from a reliable online source located at www.epocrates.com that not only includes all kinds of information but also introduces Mobile drug & formulary reference and it is also available for Medicare Part D patients.
Clinicians and support staff can now access this guide used by over 500,000 health care professionals. Clinicians now have access to information about over 3,300 including dosing, pricing, and potential drug interactions. I will give an example of Tramadol that is prescribed for pain from both cancer and joint pain. Just by having access to this website as well as the Mobile drug & formulary reference look it up, one can find out all the potential interactions on this drug, side effects, and dosage information. The formulary coverage is available from any computer with Internet connections.
Jacob Wood MD who is an assistant professor of the UAB Selma Family Residency Program quotes “I’ve been using Epocrates products on my PDA for years and find them indispensable to my practice. I think it is wonderful that my colleagues and staff that don’t yet use a PDA can now access the same information online to help them improve patient care.” Physicians are the ones who designed the Epocrates products just so healthcare professionals could have the useful and relevant information they need for providing the care that is needed. This saves much of the time for clinicians so they can concentrate on giving their patients the best care rather than spending hours referencing multiple websites and DSM texts. Even saving 30 minutes a day can make a huge difference in the care provided.
Kirk Loevner, Epocrates chairman and chief executive officer stated “The new online offering will help us grow our network beyond the healthcare professionals that currently use our PDA-based applications,” and “Epocrates Online also provides us with the opportunity to develop content and services that are optimized for an online platform.”
Other than acting as a drug guide, this product also includes formulary information for more than 130 health plans and hundreds of Medicare Part D formularies. Many healthcare professionals can now very easily obtain formulary status, drug coverage and generic drug options for the patients’ health plans on Epocrates Online.
Dr. Wood highly recommends that “I encourage all healthcare professionals to use Epocrates products via the Internet or a PDA. They are such a valuable resource and convenient tool that once you try it, you won’t know what you ever did without them.” There is also a premium version that includes pill pictures, pill identifier and hundreds of medical tables and calculations included.
Epocrates is now ranked 257 in the 24th annual Inc.500 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in United States. For those who are interested in more information about Epocrates, the website is at www.epocrates.com. Just knowing this type of service exists assures me that my family and friends will get better health care.
No comments:
Post a Comment