Epocrates online is not only a useful drug information source, but it also includes other tools that can be used by many health care professionals, and the service is free to sign up for at their website (www.epocrates.com). From this site, you can create a free account which allows you access to all aspects of the regular version of Epocrates with the exception of the medical calculator and medical tables, which are available only if you purchase the premium version of Epocrates. Despite the fact that you cannot use the calculator or the tables, there are many other important and valuable tools that can be used including the drug information source, drug interaction check, and pill identifier.
The drug information part of Epocrates is very useful. It has drug information divided into certain aspects including black box warnings, adult and pediatric dosing, contraindications and cautions, drug interactions, adverse reactions, safety monitoring, pharmacology, prices, patient education, and pill photos. The way the monograph is divided on the right hand section box is very useful to find the information you want. If you go to Epocrates online and just want to know dosing information or contraindications to a drug's use, instead of searching through the entire monograph you can click on the information you want to access it right away. This will decrease the amount of time spent looking for information, which is imperative for most people in health care.
The multiple drug interaction check is another useful tool that is offered in the free version of Epocrates online. This tool allows you to enter all the drugs that a patient is currently taking and it lists all the possible drug interactions that could occur. It not only explains the drug interaction, but also splits them up based on how serious the interaction is deemed. Serious interactions are under the heading of avoid/use alternative while those less clinically significant interactions are under the heading of monitor/modify treatment. Besides being divided under these headings, there is also important information under each interaction that explains the action that should be taken in regards to the interaction as well as how the interaction occurs. This could be a very useful tool for the pharmacist who has a patient on a lot of drugs. Instead of checking the interactions of each drug individually, all the drugs can be added to the list to find interactions that could occur in therapy.
The pill identifier tool is also a nice tool to have in community pharmacy mostly. Here, you can search for an unidentified pill by shape, color, score, coating, clarity, and imprint codes. It is an easy tool to identify a pill you find out of its bottle. This is especially useful for pharmacists in a community setting who have many pills and pill bottles. It is common for a pill to get lost out of its bottle, and this free tool from Epocrates allows the pharmacist to figure out what drug they have found.
Epocrates online is a free drug information source that anyone can get access to just by obtaining an ID and password. The free service offers multiple drug information tools that can be used by pharmacists to access drug information, check for drug interactions, and identify misplaced pills. The best part of this site is it can be accessed anywhere in the world with an Internet connection provided you have a profile set up. This is an advantage over many other drug information sources that we have to be on campus to access or figure out the new remote desktop application that the University has established. If you need a reliable, easy to access, and very useful drug information source, get yourself a profile at Epocrates online and take advantage of this free drug information source.
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I agree that Epocrates Online is a good source of drug information. Among the other things that were listed in "Epocrates online" blog, there is also a "Alt Meds" section dedicated to monographs on alternative/herbal medications that is a good tool for community pharmacy considering the increased use of these particular medications in the last 10-15 years.
Another way to navigate the Epocrates online information source is to use the indication tool box to the left of the drug names/alt med box. This can help a healthcare professional seek the proper treatment for a specific indication easily and efficiently.
Since the price is right with this program there is no reason you should not have access to it. I like the accessiblity of this tool and also the other features that Epocrates gives you access to. If you are going to go out and get a big memory card for your pda or smartphone there is no reason you should not have this on it. If you like the program more than others and wish to only have this on your pda, go ahead and get the premium because the extra features are nice and the price is not terrible.
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