Physik's
PalmPilot Pages - Physik's Drugs
Okay, I'll confess ... "Physik's Drugs" is just a project title ... what I'm really talking about here is a proposal for a Palmtop / Handheld BNF ... which should be of considerable interest to healthcare professionals in the UK at least.
A Palmtop / Handheld BNFThe British National Formulary (BNF) is now available in both CD-ROM (eBNF) and Internet (WeBNF) versions via the BNF website (www.BNF.org). Whilst these are welcome developments, I believe that a Palmtop / Handheld BNF will have even greater potential in terms of both its usefulness and commercial success.
It seems inevitable that in the future nearly all doctors and many other healthcare professionals will be using palmtop / handheld computers in their everyday work. A number of enthusiasts already use them in a variety of ways (www.PDAMD.com), although the emphasis has remained mostly on the individual user so far. Unfortunately, the generally poor state of information technology within the UK National Health Service (NHS) has largely prevented any useful integration with mainstream computer networks.
Using a Database Format
The structure of the current WeBNF (no.39) served as an inspiration for me to mock-up a version of the BNF running on a Palm organiser (www.palm.com). This was done using a popular third party database/outliner program called Hi-Note (www.cyclos.com), which also has excellent "companion" software for use on desktop computers. The current WeBNF's tree structure and multiple small text files can be well represented in this model. It is also fast to use and the inbuilt Palm OS search engine is able to access the data very effectively. This is important because even though the tree-structure is well represented, it is less likely to be used for searching purposes than a simple "Find" tool.
Disadvantages of using Hi-Note include the fact that hyperlinking is not possible and BNF symbols / images would need to be re-thought. Using a database (as opposed to an HTML format) could also limit the potential for cross-platform use and server-controlled / wireless provision of the data.
Using the Tree-Structure
Using the Search Function
Using an HTML Format
HTML is an alternative format for a Palmtop / Handheld BNF. The most obvious example of a suitable "host" application is AvantGo (www.avantgo.com). This software is widely used on the Palm, Pocket PC and Windows CE platforms and I understand that a version for the EPOC (Psion) platform is also planned. AvantGo has been so successful that many palmtop / handheld machines now come with the "client" software pre-installed. This takes the form of a browser, including a search facility that covers all webpages / HTML files stored and also the program required for synchronisation with the intended website / HTML resource. The "server" software for AvantGo is well developed and widely used by a number of prestigious organisations.
Using HTML (as opposed to a database format) has greater potential for cross-platform use. However, there would still need to be careful thought as to how information is presented on the screen. Although HTML is viewable on all palmtop / handheld platforms, the differences in screen-size could mean that different layouts were required for certain pages. Server-controlled / wireless provision of HTML data is also possible and there are already examples of this being done with Palm organisers.
Disadvantages of using an HTML format include the fact that this approach is likely to place a greater load on the palmtop / handheld machine being used and hence will be slower to use.
Summary
The prospect of producing a Palm BNF in Hi-Note format is attractive because it could be done now, without much further planning and would seem to work reasonably well. However, taking a wider and long-term view clearly shows that this approach is limited in comparison to a Palmtop / Handheld BNF written in HTML using AvantGo for example. The latter will require further work on the presentation of the BNF data on a variety of screen-sizes. My next step will be to design some examples of suitable screen layouts …
Further Questions
At this stage it would be useful to hear the opinions of potential users of a Palmtop / Handheld BNF. I would be most grateful to anyone who would like to send their answers to the following questions or any other comments to physik@physik.co.uk
What is your occupation and place of work ?
Which palmtop / handheld machines do you use ?
Would you be interested in trying out or buying a Palmtop / Handheld BNF ?
Would you prefer a Palmtop / Handheld BNF over the various (mostly American) formularies that already exist in palmtop / handheld formats ?
To what degree would a Palmtop / Handheld BNF replace your use of the existing BNF versions available in print, CD-ROM and Web formats ?
What do you think would be a reasonable price to pay for a Palmtop / Handheld BNF ?
What is your opinion on the database format vs. HTML format debate ?
Are there any other methods or examples that you think should be considered when designing a Palmtop / Handheld BNF ?
Any other comments or opinions ?
Mark “physik” Bailey
www.physik.co.uk
© Physik 2000
All the usual copyright restrictions apply to the BNF data and its presentation in various formats. This project is being undertaken in conjunction with authorised copyright holders, including the Clinical & Biomedical Computing Unit at the University of Cambridge.
