Windows Phone Thoughts: Examining Epocrates Essentials

Epocrates Rx Pro
Epocrates Rx Pro is the first major component of Epocrates Essentials. It improves on the free Epocrates Rx drug and formulary reference, by including a list of alternative medicines and integrating with Epocrates ID and Epocrates Tables - two components of Epocrates Essentials I will be discussing a little later in the review. Diverting our attention back to Epocrates Rx Pro, alternative medicines are listed in olive, while branded and generic drugs are listed in black. This makes it easy to differentiate between the two, although you can also hide the list of alternative medicines if you wish.


Figure 2: Epocrates Rx Pro's primary user interface.

Figure 2 illustrates the main user interface of Epocrates Rx Pro. The list of drugs are sorted in alphabetical order and are listed by drug name by default. However, the program allows multiple ways of listing and so you can list the drugs by class too. But any list composed of over 3,000 drugs and over 400 alternative medicines is bound to be a nightmare to flip through. That's where Epocrates' "Look Up" feature steps in. You simply input the name or class of the drug you wish to find, and Epocrates Rx Pro will find it for you. The only limitation of this feature is that it is designed to search from the first letter of the drug. So if you were to search for glucosamine sulfate, yet you typed sulfate into the "Look Up" search field, it would not find it. However, all is not lost. There is an extended search function known as "Epocrates Find". This feature has no limitations so all you need to do is search for any string of text, and if it appears in a drug name, it will find it for you! It is not just restrained to drug names though - "Epocrates Find" offers a multitude of search categories you can choose from: Drugs (Name, Indications, Contraindications, Adverse Reactions, Manufacturer and Cost Information, Pregnancy Codes, Lactation Codes, DEA and FDA, and Notes) and Alternative Medicines (Name, Reported Uses, Cautions, Adverse Reactions, and Notes). This takes the hard work out of assimilating all the content contained within this extensive drug database.


Figure 3: Epocrates Find makes searching simple!


Figure 4: Name Your Poison!

Let's have a look at topical hydrocortisone. Tapping on the drug name brings up a dialogue box which allows you to select the appropriate branded or generic drug. After selecting the drug of interest, you are taken to the main interface which contains detailed information on the drug. There is a vast amount of information to take in, yet Epocrates Rx Pro categorises them into subsections, thus making navigation easy! Subsections include: Adult Dosing, Paediatric Dosing, Contraindications / Cautions, Drug Interactions, Adverse Reactions, Manufacturer and Cost Information, Other Information, and Notes). So what is contained within each of these subsections? Read on to find out!