Study Looks at PDAs as Handy Medical Resource for Docs

Physicians’ use of personal digital assistants (PDAs), or palm-held computers, that allow quick and easy access to information about common health problems is the focus of a new study of the Alabama Practice Based Research Network (APBRN). The network, a consortium of primary care physicians conducting clinic-based research throughout Alabama, is coordinated by the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

October 1, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Physicians’ use of personal digital assistants (PDAs), or palm-held computers, that allow quick and easy access to information about common health problems is the focus of a new study of the Alabama Practice Based Research Network (APBRN). The network, a consortium of primary care physicians conducting clinic-based research throughout Alabama, is coordinated by the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

“Across the state, APBRN physicians are testing the use of PDAs containing step-by-step protocols based on national guidelines for treating patients who smoke or who suffer from poor nutrition — two of the most widespread and preventable causes of death and disease in this country,” said Myra Crawford, Ph.D., director of research with UAB’s Department of Family and Community Medicine and deputy director of APBRN. “Having best-practice protocols on hand may make the difference in whether and how physicians address these health problems with their patients.”

“PDAs are being more widely used in clinical practice as volumes of information previously stored in thick, heavy reference books now fit on computers the size of a deck of cards,” said Dr. T. Michael Harrington, chair of the UAB’s Department of Family and Community Medicine and director of APBRN. “These PDAs also can be linked to electronic medical records and used for prescription writing.”

The study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, is part of the “Prescription for Health” national initiative to promote healthy behaviors through primary care research networks. Crawford leads the team in translating best practice guidelines into simple PDA-based programs that are easy to use and integrate into routine clinical examinations.

“The PDAs store the latest information gathered from decades of clinical research relative to tobacco use and unhealthy diet,” Crawford said. “It can take up to 20 years for research findings to filter down to ‘real life’ daily practice. PDAs can allow physicians to retrieve this information in seconds, without leaving the exam room, to use it today to assist in providing the best patient care.”

APBRN membership currently consists of 36 physicians in academic and private practice in 20 of the state’s 67 counties. Alabama’s network, one of about 40 in the United States and abroad, is a member of the Federation of Practice Based Research Networks. Crawford serves on the Federation’s steering committee.