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[drjchandler]

8 Ways to Stay Calm During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

Hey all,

I hope you are all in good health upon reading this blog entry. We are facing uncharted territory in the world, right now. This has undoubtedly sparked a lot of fear, anxiety, and even depression in many of us. Even if you do not suffer from a mental health issue, this situation is likely causing moderate to severe levels of stress. 

In the guide you get access to these FREE apps so you…

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[drjchandler]

9 Things to Do BEFORE School Starts!

9 Things to Do BEFORE School Starts!

Hey Parents! A successful school year begins before the first day of school. Don’t stress! We have you covered with these 9 simple steps:

1-“Walk-through” of the school.

Especially, if this is a new school! Locate their classroom and make notes about the seating arrangement. If your kid goes to several different teachers during the day: walk their schedule with them. Noting the arrangement and…

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[drjchandler]

Everyone has an inner RAINBOW

Back in graduate school, I completed my dissertation on Multicultural Identity Development. My chair, Dr. Mark Rosenblatt urged me to create my own minority identity development model. At that time, it seemed like an overwhelming task and I was scared of thinking outside the box. So, I attempted to improve someone else’s work. Dr. Pamela Hayes had already come up with the very thorough:…

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[drjchandler]

Your Kid's a Liar

Your Kid’s a Liar

In today’s political climate, it seems everyone lies. They even have a websiteto show just how much each presidential candidate actually lies. So, you are probably wondering why people lie and if there is ever a good time to lie? The answer is a little more complicated than you might think. See, none of us are perfect. We cannot expect our children to be, either. If you want your child to be more…

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Take a look at RxP’s 2nd page of apps:

The following Medical apps are listed:

Interactions:

When I started making these reviews, I decided to clean it up a little. So I deleted Interactions and a few other apps. Interactions started out being a pretty easy to use, bare bones, drug interaction check. However, an update (or lack there of) made it where you can only search generic medications. Additionally, I don’t trust that it is entirely accurate in its findings. I wouldn’t even bother with this one. See below:

WebMD: 

Now, I’m sure almost everyone (whether you are in the medical field, just curious, or a hypochondriac) has heard of and probably uses WebMD on a regular basis. It’s a great app and comes in handy when a patient tells me they have a rare disease, or medical disorder. Helps the user with Symptom Checker, Med Reminders,  Conditions, Rx, First Aid Info, Local Health Listings, Medical terms, and Tests and Procedures.

**Bonus: They recently teamed up with Walgreens to allow a quick scan of your bottle to refill, or transfer meds to your nearest Walgreens, right inside the app! Of course, you could use the Walgreen’s app for a few more features.

MDLinx Oncology Articles:

I realize Oncology articles, while interesting, seem unrelated to psychology, or medical psychology. However, I decided to download this app in order to learn more information about cancer and their treatments because #CancerSucks. Furthermore, I currently have patients (and friends) in recovery from various forms of cancer. This app provides access to the latest medications, treatments, and trials. (Dedicated to my buddy, Scott, who lost his battle to cancer in 2014.)

Psychiatry:

This app is pretty limited. I only realized that after I downloaded it. It wants you to buy the videos? I was initially curious but that is gone, now. I will likely delete this one, as well.

  Mango Health:

Now, this app is cool. Very user-friendly so I frequently recommend to patients to set reminders to take their medications. It uses a token economy (CogB) to reward you when you take your meds! Highly effective when dealing with teens and other non-adherent patients.

  Med Finals

Psychiatry Lite

NCSBN’s Rx Flashcards

Mastering Psychiatry

Page 2-Medical Apps that Save Time & Lives Take a look at RxP's 2nd page of apps: The following Medical apps are listed:

[drjchandler]

Jax eats a pea with his foot

[drjchandler]

Medical Apps that Save Time & Lives

Yesterday, I told you about Epocrates. It has been a god-send since I started using it. **See my original post to see what I like and dislike about that particular app**

Today, I want to tell you about a few (okay a lot of) other medical apps I use on a regular basis. Most of them are free, so why not?! Here are some screenshots of my iPhone’s RxP (Rx=Medical Psychologist) Medical App folder.

As you can see, I have collected quite a few. I would say they are pretty much in order of importance from left to right screenshots. Inside each screenshot, I tend to position the apps I use more frequently in the middle and corners. Don’t ask me why, it’s just how my brain works. (And yes, that’s my little boy in my background image. He just turned 1!)

The 1st page (far left screenshot) you will see:

Rx Shortages:

This is extremely useful when you are attempting to prescribe a slightly rare medication because you can save yourself  and your patient a lot of time (and money) by making sure there is not a shortage in your area. A little more user-friendly than theFDA Drug Shortage app listed below.

Epocrates:

See my previous post about why I use Epocrates on a daily basis.

FDA Drug Shortages:

Similar to Rx Shortages but shows a slightly different view of drug shortages in your area and is run by FDA. That is both a blessing and a curse, as it is both exhaustive and cumbersome.

About Herbs: or Herbal Guide on Google (Disclosure: I have not used, yet!)

This used to be a great app but is currently buggy and I can’t even open it, at the moment. Ugh! When it was working, it showed most OTC herbal remedies that can be used for mild (to moderate) mental health issues.

MPR:

Basic, but user-friendly and free.

Formulary: At quick glance there does not seem to be an equivalent Google app (please correct me if I’m wrong.)

A very useful app for checking if a particular insurance will approve a medication you are thinking about prescribing. This is extremely important for working with patients with Medicaid! (About 95% of my caseload.) Downfall is that it is not always 100% accurate.

MobilePDR:

This is a highly useful app and competes with Epocrates pretty well.

LabGear: (there are a few Lab Value app on Google but I have not tried any.)

This is one of the only apps for which I paid. It was a whopping $2.99, or you can bundle it with a few other Medical apps to make each one cheaper. I highly recommend purchasing it as it is invaluable when analyzing Lab Values and explaining them to your patient.

PocketRx:

This is app is pretty cool. It’s a lot like the MobilePDR, MPR, and Epocrates. However, what I think sets it apart is the ability to have make a “Med Box.” In the med box, you can add your Patient’s medications. It will show you: Interactions, Precautions, and Side Effects. That’s not even the best part! It will also save the profile for later reference. That is a huge time saver!

  Click on the picture to see the Next Page of Medical Apps:

Medical Apps that Save Time & Lives Medical Apps that Save Time & Lives Yesterday, I told you about Epocrates. It has been a god-send since I started using it.

[drjchandler]

In today’s tech-savvy market it’s out of the ordinary if you are not using medical apps in your every day practice. So, I am sure most of you have either seen and/or used the medical/prescribing apps mentioned below. However, just in case you have not and are still grappling with which ones to actually purchase, here is a no-frills review of a few apps I use everyday:

Epocrates:

Pros:

Arguably one of the most useful and universal medical apps on the market.

Despite the recent update, still a pretty clean, simple user interface.

New updates = New user-friendly features.

Quickly check interactions right from the medication information page.

Access to Guidelines for nearly all Specialties.

Pill identifier, pill pictures, tables and math equations.

Provides free empirically-based research articles, as well, as FDA Alerts:

Cons:

Empirically-based articles are in all Specialties and currently, there is no way to narrow it down. (see above, but please correct me if I’m wrong.)

Before the most recent update, the interface was a lot cleaner. Now, it seems convoluted, and a bit cluttered (see below).

New Features = More expensive. Some of the more useful features have to be unlocked via purchase. We are not talking about 0.99, 1.99, 0r 2.99 like most apps. It is 174.99/year!! That said, if you are willing to shell out the $, or your company will pay for it, this could be the ONLY app you need.

Guidelines are limited and not all-inclusive. (Specifically, Psychiatry only has 2 available.)

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  Epocrates Medical App Reviewed (you won’t believe the cost…) In today's tech-savvy market it's out of the ordinary if you are not using medical apps in your every day practice.