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Better Information Leads to Better Care
Dear Colleague,
As I am sure you are all aware, a revolution is taking place in medicine today. Information technology is changing the way we take care of our patients. Six years ago, when I got my first PDA, most people didn't know what it was, or how it could change their practice. It was at that time that I set out to build the first patient management system for handheld computers. My principle was simple: better information would lead to better care.
Today, handheld computers are ubiquitous. I hardly know a physician that works without one. While the vast majority of us still use the PDA mostly for contact information and calendar functions, many have discovered how to use their handheld to improve their patient care by using reference materials and drug databases to help in prescribing medications. And while this information is certainly invaluable, I write to you today, to challenge you to take the next step in improving patient care with information technology -- by using PatientKeeper Personal.
PatientKeeper Personal is a complete patient management system on your handheld device. It keeps track of patient lists, medications, problems, labs and more for each of your patients. It can be used in both the clinic and hospital settings as a "peripheral chart", so you always have the information you need to make good decisions. Furthermore, once you take the time to enter the data into PatientKeeper Personal, you can use the data in a number of ways, including automating note writing, tracking days of medications, sending information to other colleagues, and more. Once you get accustomed to having all your patients' information with you at all times, you will wonder how you ever did without it.
From a technology standpoint, PatientKeeper is in a class of its own. The engineers at PatientKeeper have just completed work on the third generation of this software and have engineered a system that is infinitely flexible and extensible to help you personalize your PatientKeeper Personal to meet your needs. A common framework and user-interface allow easy navigation between modules. Standard modules include Lab Results, NoteWriter, Medication List, Problem List, amongst others, but you can easily customize this list of active modules to fit your needs. For example, as a medical student, I may have used all of the PatientKeeper Personal modules, but now as I prepare to take my first faculty position, I use fewer, trusting the interns and students to track the finer details. Furthermore, PatientKeeper Personal can be extended to include more functions by adding modules authored by other companies that have their own expertise in clinical computing, but that do not have the time or interest in re-inventing the entire architecture of a patient management system. The end result is that you have one patient list, but countless functions you can take advantage of for your patients.
Once you see the power of PatientKeeper Personal, you will no doubt see the power of PatientKeeper Enterprise. This is our full solution that actually allows you to download all of your patient's data from your hospital's existing information system. With this added connectivity, many of the administrative functions we are forced to do each day can be automated, and you can be sure you always have the best information to work with.
Make the commitment to trying PatientKeeper Personal today, and see how it will improve your practice. Because in the end, the same principle holds -- better information does lead to better care.
Maulin Shah, MD
Creator of PatientKeeper Personal
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