EyeWorld Asia-Pacific March 2020 Issue

NEWS & OPINION EWAP MARCH 2020 55 Contact information Aizuss: daizuss@oaveyes.com Richard: richard@redolive.com Wang: drwang@wangvisioninstitute.com This article originally appeared in the November 2019 issue of EyeWorld. It has been slightly modified and appears here with permission from the ASCRS Ophthalmic Services Corp. by Vanessa Caceres EyeWorld Contributing Writer Six helpful apps for your clinical practice W ith ever-present smartphones and electronic tablets, many ophthalmologists are tapping into the power of apps geared toward the medical field to help them operate more efficiently. EyeWorld asked a few ophthalmologists to share which apps help them out in their clinic the most. Here’s what they shared. Epocrates Epocrates (athenahealth) is geared toward medical professionals and, per its description online, focuses on drugs, diagnostics, diseases, and patient management. “I use Epocrates on a daily basis to look up patient medications, indications, contraindications, and side effects,” said David Aizuss, MD. “I find it invaluable for reviewing medications with patients and answering their questions about both systemic and ocular side effects of anything they may be taking.” Trent Richards, MD, uses Epocrates as a resource for prescription dosage questions. Epocrates is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The app is free, but its Epocrates Plus version requires a paid subscription. Eye Handbook Eye Handbook (Cloud Nine Development) is specifically for eyecare professionals. In addition to serving as a diagnostic and treatment reference, the app has chat forums where eyecare professionals can post pictures and ask questions, according to the app’s online description. Eye Handbook can help ophthalmologists with vertex conversion and with providing patient education material, Dr. Richards said. Additionally, Ming Wang, MD, PhD, has found some other uses. “You can easily pull up tests for screening, which can be particularly helpful on the go. Basic color vision and contrast sensitivity tests are available, and a comprehensive coding list is available and can be searched. You can even pull up photos that can be used for patient education,” Dr. Wang said. Eye Handbook is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play and is free. GoodRx Much like its well-known website counterpart, GoodRx (GoodRx) is a resource for medical professionals and patients to help patients find out the price of prescription medications in their area. “My staff will use this to help patients find a good price on medications,” Dr. Wang said. The app also will generate a savings coupon that they can use at their local pharmacies. The GoodRx app is available for both Apple and Google Play technology and is free. Dry Eye OSDI Questionnaire With a growing number of dry eye patients visiting eye practices, the Dry Eye OSDI Questionnaire app (Allergan) can be one way to help assess dry eye severity. Eye doctors can use the app to give the 12-item Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire while patients are at the practice. Although Dr. Wang does not use the app right now, he said that practice staff could potentially give patients an electronic tablet and have them complete the OSDI questionnaire via the app while waiting to see their doctor. Or if patients have the app, they can share the results with