Ask Marty: What are you using to access drug information in your practice?

Dec 13, 2009

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A: I gave up using the print version of Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR) many years ago after I installed Internet access in my office. The biggest problem with the written version of a drug data reference book is that the information is obsolete before it is even published.

The benefit of using an online version of any drug reference is that the information is continually updated.

There are both free versions along with handheld and smart phone versions available for use on all the major phone and handheld operating systems.

I have used PDR.net, Mosby, ePocrates, and Lexi Comp, and ultimately settled on using Lexi. The reason I like Lexi best is that the references are written by dentists for dental professionals. It gives comprehensive, dental-specific information -- for example, Dental Alerts for vasoconstrictor/local anesthetic precautions, effects on dental treatment, and effects on bleeding.

You can even print patient education leaflets, available electronically in up to 18 languages.

In addition to dental drug information, other resources are available from the vast reference books that Lexi Comp has published on topics such as oral pathology, periodontics, endodontics, clinical dentistry, and emergency protocols. So it makes looking up pathology and its treatment a snap.

All of these resources are available both online and for PDAs and smartphones.

The best part about these software products is they can perform an analysis of a patient's entire drug and natural product profile and identify possible interactions. This will protect you and the patient.

So no matter which online drug product you choose, you will be better informed then the information in the book. If you want to save a few dollars when you buy Lexi use the discount code y44a5.

Martin Jablow, D.M.D., is a practicing dentist and a self-professed technophile who lectures and blogs on a variety of technologies used in dentistry (dentechblog.blogspot.com). If you have a technology question for Dr. Jablow, e-mail it to us at [email protected]. If we use your question, you'll receive a $10 gift card from Amazon or Starbucks!