Online medical diagnosis and reference tools for professionals.

There is a service for doctors which allows them to check medicines and provides a drug and formulary reference on the fly. There is also a special version of the software which can be used on a PDA.

There is a premium version which allows them to diagnose different diseases via their PDA, or computers in the clinic or hospital. Another premium service is that they can check various alternative medicines, which would be good for contraindications. When I was a practicing herbalist, this would have been very handy. There were a few times I gave advice to people regarding herbs, and I always told them to check with their doctor, and told them the information they needed to know. For example, one infertile woman asked me what could help her conceive. We worked together and found that Chaste Tree Berry would meet her needs. And although Chaste Tree Berry is one of the most benign herbs I know of, with very few side effects or contraindications, it does not mean that everyone can take it. If I had someone come to me with a heart problem, I would not treat them, because I would want them to see a licensed practitioner. But say they did reseach on their own and found that foxglove would work. Then let's say that they took the wrong doseage of foxglove. If they go to their doctor, he would likely prescribe digitalis, which is the marketable pill form of foxglove. They would essentially be taking twice as much as they needed. And the doctor would not necessarily know. Just as I have not been trained in the correct doseaging of their medicines, they have not been trained in mine. With this software, potentially dangerous situations can be avoided, and the standard of care could be raised.

Another feature I like is that they could carry around their PDA, and if a patient has forgotten to bring in their pills, they can view the pills on the screen and the doctor will know what they are on. This situation happened to my mom recently. She was at the doctor's office after her fall, and she was on a heart medication to slow her heart rate. Because it was something she did not normally take, she did not know the name. But either of us could have pointed to it if shown on a PDA screen. Then the doctor would not have to fear prescribing an incorrect medicine.

Go to your doctor and ask them if they are using the Lovenox or Epocrates software in their office, and let them know that you want it there.