Use of personal digital assistants for documentation of pharmacists' interventions: a literature review
Table of contents
Rodriguez-Morales AJ. 2009 Jan 15. Use of personal digital assistants for documentation of pharmacists' interventions: a literature review. Mobile medical computing reviews. [Online]
“Are personal digital assistants (PDAs) used as intervention documentation tools in health systems by pharmacists in their practice?” The authors explore this question but found few articles that responded directly, suggesting the need to increase the frequency and number of interventions documented by pharmacists on PDAs. Given the study's limited findings, this question deserves further research and a more exhaustive and detailed systematic review.
Reviewed by Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales, MD, MSc
Fox BI, Felkey BG, Berger BA, Krueger KP, Rainer RK Jr. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2007; 64(14):1516-25.
The authors selected a very limited number of studies and did not conduct additional bibliographic searches in other relevant international databases.
Research design/methodology
Authors conducted the literature search in MEDLINE and the International Pharmaceutical Abstracts. They used the following keywords: personal digital assistant, PDA, intervention. The methodology could not be considered a systematic review of the literature.
Eligibility criteria
Included studies were limited to articles' whose title and abstract mentioned pharmacists’ use of PDAs as intervention documentation tools.
Research question
“Are personal digital assistants (PDAs) used as intervention documentation tools in health systems by pharmacists in their practice?”
Assessment of methodological quallity
This review was not done according to rigorous protocols for meta-analysis or systematic reviews.
Outcome
HIGHLIGHTS: The use of PDAs may increase the frequency and number of interventions documented by pharmacists.
IMPLICATIONS: An important component of pharmaceutical practice is the documentation of the care provided. However, there is a lack of well-designed studies reporting the overall outcomes of using PDAs for intervention documentation by pharmacists.
GENERALIZABILITY: Findings are applicable to health care disciplines beyond pharmacy. However, further studies, trials and reviews are needed to assess impact and significance.
Further areas for research
Further observational studies and trials could be conducted for PDA documentation by pharamicsts and other health care professionals. It is important to conduct comparisons between different PDAs, different software and other documentation methods in order to assess the real impact of their use.
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