Windows Phone Thoughts: Examining Epocrates Essentials

Epocrates ID
Epocrates ID is essentially an infectious disease treatment guide and is enhanced by its tight integration with Epocrates Rx Pro. The method of listing is a little different to that of the aforementioned components of Epocrates Essentials. Epocrates ID sorts by bug, by drug or by system, yet each one delivers slightly different results. Searching by bug, as illustrated in Figure 12, lists bug names from A to Z. There are links conveniently placed on the right which provide small pop-up details on the class of bug. Tapping on the bug name itself directs you to another screen which lists infectious diseases in which this bug is commonly present. The list of diseases is commonly divided into categories where appropriate (e.g. adult and child). However, that's not the end of it all. Tapping on a particular disease takes you to another screen which has more of the subsections we've come to love: Empirical Therapies, Specific Therapies, Other Information and Notes. Going back to the root level of navigation, sorting by drug works similarly to sorting by bug. You are presented with the list of drugs with links on the right which provide pop-up details on the class of drug. Tapping on the drug name itself directs you to a list of diseases where the drug is commonly used, and from there, navigation works the same way as mentioned previously. Finally, sorting by system allows you to search for diseases which affect a particular body system. Tapping on the disease name takes you to the subsections once again. So what information do these subsections provide?


Figure 12: Searching by bug in Epocrates ID.

• Empirical and Specific Therapies: Drug names are listed here, along with information on its rate and size of dosage. The drug names are actually links themselves, which direct the user back to Epocrates Rx Pro for further information on the drug. Again, this is a fine example of the tight integration of the Epocrates Essentials software.
  
• Other Information: There is some very useful information here related to diagnosis, other forms of treatment as well as a source of references which allow you to read up on the infectious disease if you require more information.
  
• Notes: The Notes feature is the same once again, but I can really see it being put to application around the hospitals where physicians can store patient notes on IDs in this section. Being able to access it on-hand, fast and painlessly, makes this one handy feature to have in the program.

It's easy to get confused between Epocrates Dx and Epocrates ID since both focus on diseases. However, Epocrates Dx is more of a general disease guide, while Epocrates ID focuses heavily on infectious diseases. Both have their own purpose and complement each other well. Like Epocrates Lab, Epocrates ID fails to provide the "Epocrates Find" feature. However, "Look Up" is still provided which simplifies navigation to an extent.


Figure 13: ID and Drugs - Integration with Epocrates Rx Pro.