The Top 10 iPad Apps for Pharmacists

Want to know the top 10 apps I use in pharmacy practice?

1. MedCalc Pro - is a medical calculator that gives you easy access to complicated medical formulas, scores, scales and classifications.MedCalc has been available on mobile platforms for more than a decade, so it leverages years of experience in bringing medical equations to physicians in an easy to use, yet very powerful format. The Pro version offers premium features such as native iPad support, a patient database to store results and many ways to export results (email, airprint, copy to clipboard). If you're on a tight budget, you can always check out the cheaper but still amazing MedCalc.

2. Sanford Guide - The Sanford Guide is the essential resource for healthcare professionals who care for patients with infectious diseases. The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy 2011 application provides fast, convenient access to critical information on treatment of infectious diseases, for timely, effective decisions at the point of care. Always a pocket guide, still a pocket guide. Portability has been a hallmark of The Sanford Guide for over 40 years. The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy 2011 application extends that portability to iOS4 devices: iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The most trusted infectious diseases treatment resource in print now presents the same comprehensive, treatment- focused coverage of infectious diseases and clinical conditions, anti-infective drug information, therapeutic adjuncts and comparative spectra of activity in a clean, uncluttered, device-optimized interface. Based on the Sanford Guide Web Edition, the application features expanded coverage of topics compared to the print edition.

3. Medscape - The #1 free medical app in iTunes containing drug reference, daily medical news, CME/CE, drug interaction checker, disease and condition reference, procedure and protocols, and other special features. A must!

4. MedPage - MedPage Today is the only service for physicians that provides a clinical perspective on the breaking medical news that their patients are reading. Co-developed by MedPage Today and The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Office of Continuing Medical Education, each article alerts clinicians to breaking medical news, with summaries and actionable information enabling them to better understand the implications.

5. WebMD - WebMD helps you with your decision-making and health improvement efforts by providing mobile access 24/7 to mobile-optimized health information and decision-support tools including WebMD’s Symptom Checker, Drugs & Treatments, First Aid Information and Local Health Listings. WebMD also gives you access to first aid information without having to be connected wirelessly – critical if you don’t have Internet access in the time of need. Personalize your app by saving drugs, conditions and articles relevant to you — through secure access and easy sign-in.

6. Epocrates - Get quick access to reliable drug, disease, and diagnostic information at the point of care. Epocrates is the #1 mobile drug reference among U.S. physicians. Trusted for accurate content and innovative offerings, 50% of U.S. physicians rely on Epocrates to help improve patient safety and increase practice efficiency.

7. Lexicomp - Committed to improving medication safety with innovative products and technology designed for healthcare professionals, Lexicomp offers a variety of drug information and medical applications for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. These applications are tailored to meet the point-of-care needs of pharmacists, physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners and dentists by storing content directly on the mobile device. Access to Lexicomp's up-to-date drug information and clinical content is a must for the busy healthcare professional who desires the necessary tools to make important medication and clinical decisions from the palm of their hand! Download your Lexicomp mobile drug information application on the app store.

8. Redi-Reader – the reader I use to read articles, studies, etc…

9. Pharmacy Times – Keeping up with pharmacy news. I choose this app.

10. PACID - Last, but certainly not least, ID Compendium, A Persiflager's Guide by Mark Crislip, MD and programming by Walter Crittenden, PharmD (shout out to the PharmD!). This app is sweet for infectious disease!

p.s. I saved the best for last ;)