PDAs Brewer

PDA’s: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?: 

PDA’s: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? Kevin W. Brewer, MBA Technical Services Manager Office of Academic Computing Wake Forest University School of Medicine September 11, 2007 2007 Graylyn Conference Winston-Salem, NC

Slide2: 

Spring 2000 – Spring 2002 Palm OS Single application for all clerkships Application expanded in 2001 to gather more data Data answered basic questions only Types of patients encountered on each clerkship Application was cumbersome, screens applied to one clerkship and not another Third party development tool tool PDA & Patient Tracking History

Slide3: 

Spring 2003 Switched to the Pocket PC Operating System Still a single application for all clerkships Third party development tool Major problems with switch to new OS Spring 2004 Continued with Pocket PC Operating System Developed new application in house Visual Studio 2003, Smart Device Applications Customized application for each clerkship Smooth sailing with new application PDA & Patient Tracking History

Slide4: 

Spring 2005 – Spring 2006 Remain on Pocket PC platform Further customized each clerkship’s “version” of the application “Other” diagnosis fields with intelligence to list previously entered items Further reduced manual entry through the use of checkboxes and drop lists Expanded data entry to match students with residents and faculty Dovetailed the encounter tracking system with the on-line, student evaluation system PDA & Patient Tracking History

Slide5: 

Along the way: Numerous reference tools available on the various devices Changed frequently in first few years Settled to a standard set in 2005 More details on these later… PDA & Patient Tracking History

Slide6: 

Administrative Personnel Responsibilities Review schedule for faculty/student shift matches Print form, write names, mail to faculty or resident via interoffice Silent prayer and crossed fingers hoping to get them back Manual review of overdue evaluations 60% response rate for evaluations “Old” Evaluation System - Paper

Slide7: 

Note: still discussing last year’s system Students enter faculty/residents they work with and shift information Students then track their patients Evaluation instance then created for: Faculty/Resident to evaluate student Student to evaluate Faculty/Resident Student to evaluate clerkship experience Student to evaluate clerkship director Patient Tracking & Eval System Merger

Slide8: 

Synchronized data is stored in central curriculum database System generated E-mails Increased frequency of reminders as overdue evaluations age One-click reports for overdue evaluations Decreased workload on administrative personnel >90% response rate for evaluations New Evaluation System – On-Line

Slide9: 

Data entry cumbersome for some students Despite efforts to streamline Application became complex given clerkship rotation activities Each rotation its own “application” Application development environment “toolkit” limited on PDA (Visual Studio) Surveys/chatter began to show preference for web based version Issues – Patient Tracking on PDA

Dog became “too big for the yard”: 

Dog became “too big for the yard”

Slide11: 

Asked one question: “Would you like the enter patient encounters via a web system versus the current, PDA based system?” 67% = Yes 33% = No Majority ruled Informal Student Survey

Slide12: 

http://ewake.wfubmc.edu/ Web Based System Demonstration

Slide13: 

Current system still gives following benefits: Evaluation instances created All those previously mentioned System generated E-mail reminders Decreased workload on administrative personnel >90% response rate for evaluations PLUS: Increased student satisfaction New Evaluation System – Web

Slide14: 

Patient Tracking & Reference Tools Data in & Data out device Only Reference Tools Data out device only Usefulness of reference tools are in question Where does this leave the PDA?

Slide15: 

Utilization From Student Survey Archimedes (Medical Calculator)

Slide16: 

Utilization From Student Survey WFUBMC Phone Reference

Slide17: 

Utilization From Student Survey Student Beeper List

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Utilization From Student Survey Medical Reference Guides

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Utilization From Student Survey infoPoems with 5MCC

Slide20: 

Utilization From Student Survey Taber’s Medical Dictionary Students asked for this (past surveys)

Slide21: 

Utilization From Student Survey ePocrates Pharmaceutical Reference Utilization consistently in the 90%* or above range based on numerous surveys *Students rating either “useful” or “somewhat useful” Stopped asking in most recent survey

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More Questions… What’s happening in the industry?

Pocket PC Magazine – November 2005: 

Pocket PC Magazine – November 2005

Pocket PC Magazine – November 2006: 

Pocket PC Magazine – November 2006

Pocket PC Magazine – August 2007: 

Pocket PC Magazine – August 2007

SmartPhone?? Magazine – 2008????: 

SmartPhone?? Magazine – 2008????

ars technica: 

ars technica “PDA sales drop by 40 percent in a single year, vendors bolt for exit” – by Nate Anderson, published 08/13/2007 Quote: “There are two kinds of people in the world—those who believe in the power of the PDA and those who don't—and the first group is shrinking faster than a cotton shirt in an industrial dryer.” http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070813-pda-sales-drop-by-40-percent-in-a-single-year-vendors-bolt-for-exit.html

Palm infocenter: 

Palm infocenter “PDA Market Continues Steep Decline” – by Ryan Kairer, published 08/08/2007 Quote: “According to IDC's Worldwide Handheld QView, vendors shipped a total of 720,000 units during the second quarter of 2007, a 43.5% decrease from the same quarter one year ago and a 21.8% decrease from the previous quarter.” http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/8767/pda-market-continues-steep-decline/

WFUSM watched…: 

WFUSM watched… Toshiba drop out of the PDA market Dell drop out of the PDA market Devices available within our budget: 8-10 available in 2003 2 available in 2007

Still more questions…: 

Still more questions… Can we justify issuing these devices if the majority will only use for pharmaceutical reference? As for our technology integration mission, does it make sense to train and utilize a dying technology? Are Smartphones a viable alternative? Should we focus on tablet computing for clinical years?

Questions & Answers: 

Questions & Answers