Presented at the 2000 APIII Conference                        Return to 2000 Abstract Index

PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT FOR THE PATHOLOGY RESIDENT

Magee-Womens Hospital
Department of Pathology
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Dilip Gupta, MD

Deepak Mohan MD, James T. Molina MD, PhD, James R. Davie MD, PhD, Dilip Gupta MD

Department of Pathology
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Pittsburgh, PA

Objective: To create a Personal Digital Assistant for the Pathology Resident

Background: Medical care providers are increasingly using Personal Digital Assistants. Today's hospital environment has created an emphasis on producing rapid pathology reports and thereby increased time pressure on pathology residents. We propose to create a pathology resident personal digital assistant (PDA) that keeps track of all these events so the resident can focus on the tasks that he needs to complete and leave the scheduling to the PDA. The advantages include low cost, portability, easy PC data sharing, and applications such as a calendar, phone directory, memo pad, and a task list. Resident procedure tracking (i.e. clinical pathology call log documentation) is required for residency accreditation. Most tracking systems have been somewhat cumbersome and prone to data loss. Pathologists need a way to access and organize patient-related, and medical reference information such as special stains and immunohistochemistry. Hand-held computers are a practical solution that can make this information easily accessible.

Design: Initially these areas will be addressed:

Pathology specific reference databases for special stains, and immunohistochemistry
Each resident will be assigned a PDA unit with all software and files loaded and will be educated on the use of the units. Each unit will be updated periodically at a computer station conveniently located for residents.

Results: Survey data regarding use and acceptance by residents will be collected. Utility / Usefulness evaluations and conclusions will be presented at APIII 2001.