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The Practitioner's Interactive Networking Group, Inc. | Knowledge & Networking for the Practicing Clinician
Apps for the BlackBerry
This page was created to lend some insight to those practitioners who would like to expand on the functionality and usefulness of their BlackBerrys, at the point of care.
Listed below are various applications (also known as, "apps" or software) used by our sample BlackBerry Bold (BB) user; a Nurse Practitioner (NP) who manages surgical patients in a hospital setting.
The tables display the most interesting functionalities of each app. In addition, the amount of time our BB user accesses each app, on a typical work day, is demonstrated in the tables, (%).
BB = Blackberry; NP = nurse practitioner
Info for iPhone users...coming soon!
Medical Apps
Application | Interesting Functions | % of Use |
| - First published in 1959, also known as the "Big Red Book” - It provides more extensive evidence-based data than any other drug reference | 20 |
| - comprises of over 200 medical calculators, including conversions for metric units and critical care infusion rates - there is also a free version | 5 |
| - The Patient Drug Interactions Guide helps keep users safe and informed on adverse drug interactions. - Based on The Medical Letter's highly regarded database, this easy-to-use tool allows users to quickly check for adverse interactions across thousands of drugs, foods and natural supplements | 5 |
- Easy, convenient, flexible way to fulfill CME requirements | 3 | |
| - Provides the basics of anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system, electrical conduction system of the heart - Basic ECG concepts - ACLS and CPR algorithms, emergency medications - Over 100 ECG rhythms figures, including 12-Lead and pacemaker rhythms | 7 |
- 324, full-color anatomic illustrations | 3 | |
- Medical dictionary; newest version provides illustrations and audio | 30 | |
- Medical reference with over 40 years of being known as the “bible” of the medical ward | 10 | |
Washington Manual of Surgery Therapeutics
| - Guidelines and algorithms for management of surgical diseases - In depth information and relevant information on critical care infusions | 15 |
| - Based on the most current American Heart Association (AHA) Guidelines for CPR & Emergency Cardiovascular Care - Remains up to date, as long as your subscription lasts | 2 |
Manufacturer Installed Apps
Application | Interesting Functions | % of Use |
Calendar | - reminders can be set to alert to oncoming appointments, you set the time frame for this - can be futile if you are not aware of how much time in advance you would need for a reminder - recurrent appointments can be set, with corresponding recurrent reminders - one can access directions at the “Location” field by hitting the menu key; the BB then opens the GPS app (one must have this app enabled) | 40 |
Contacts | - individual pictures can be applied to each contact, which then display during a call - an activity log can search for all communications recently shared with the contact (including emails, SMS or MMS messages, etc.) | 15 |
Tasks | - reminders can be set to alert to oncoming tasks, you set the time frame for this - can be futile if you are not aware of how much time in advance you would need for a reminder | 20 |
Memo | - can be used as a “yellow sticky note” for anything from temporary passwords to short notes to reference for work - easily searchable | 10 |
Camera | - Geotagging attaches GPS coordinates to the photo you are taking | 2 |
Blackberry Messenger | - enables one to use instant messaging with other BB users, as long as both have data plans - there is no per message charge, as in SMS (standard text messaging) | 3 |
Profiles (Ring)
| - the user sets up the BB to ring or vibrate for a particular contact or message format - e.g., our NP BB user has set her phone to vibrate on incoming SMS messages from her business partners, is silent on incoming “junk mail,” and the phone is set to vibrate on all incoming calls, but rings when she receives a call from certain family members | n/a
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Third Party Apps
Application | Interesting Functions | % of Use |
- “library” app - user is able to download the electronic version of a multitude of books - user can annotate, highlight and copy text to be pasted into other applications; such as into text messages or memo entries - Lookup any word with the multidictionary search function | 30 | |
- More than 180,000 entries and definitions in the Dictionary - More than 350,000 synonyms and antonyms in the Thesaurus - Hyperlinks between different related words | 10 | |
- internet browser, version also available for your home computer - has a bird’s eye view of the page in which you can zoom in on (useful if one is familiar with the webpage) - To fully access the Internet with Opera Mini, a Data Plan from your mobile service provider might be required - Web pages are compressed by up to 90% of its original size for speed - Opera Mini is free to download | 40 | |
- View, edit and create native Word, Excel and PowerPoint files and attachments - View speaker notes in presentations - User can also view native PDF files | 20 |