Getting to Know Your Handheld Computer -- Choosing a Handheld Computer: PDAs, MDAs, and the Alphabet Soup of Handheld Computers -- Getting to Know Your Handheld: Palm OS and Pocket PC -- Getting Software from Cyberspace to the Palm of Your Hand: Downloading and Installing Software on Your Palm OS or Pocket PC Handheld -- Medical Software -- “Where in the World Wide Web Do I Find All This Stuff?” Finding Medical Software and Information on the Web for Handheld Computers -- What Floor Is Mrs. Jones on, and What Does Her CBC Look Like Today? Patient Records on Handheld Computers -- Calculator Programs for Handheld Computers: Crunching the Numbers Made Easy -- Medical References: Information at Your Fingertips -- Getting Paid for What You Do: Avoid Losing Your Shirt by Using a Handheld Computer for Billing -- Electronic Prescribing: Drug Dealing Twenty-First Century Style -- Medical Documents in Your Pocket -- Capturing Life in the Palm of Your Hand: Getting Rid of the Yellow Stickies by Using a Handheld Database -- Software for Nursing: RNs Are Mobilizing -- Software for Other Healthcare Professionals: Hey, What About Me? -- Advanced Topics -- Evidence-Based Medicine and Handhelds -- Wireless 101 -- Programmable Calculators -- How to Make Your Own Database: Programming a Simple Procedure Log -- Creating Your Own Programs -- Beyond the Beam: Server-Based Synchronization -- Teaching People to Use Handheld Computers.Handheld computers are emerging as the stethoscopes of the twenty-first century, and no clinician should be without! These small, easy-to-use devices are now powerful enough to help clinicians manage information and make medical decisions at the point of care. Here, Drs. Stayer, Reynolds and Ebell, practicing physicians and nationally recognized handheld computing experts, show you how to make the most of a handheld computer in your medical practice. This comprehensive how-to guide targets all levels of handheld computer users from novices to experts. It is designed with easy-to-understand hands-on exercises that walk readers through each new skill presented. For beginners, the first section is devoted to "getting to know your handheld," choosing or upgrading a handheld computer, and the basics of handheld operation. There's also a comprehensive chapter on downloading and installing software. Futher sections delve into different types of medical and nonmedical software, Internet and evidence-based resources for medical handheld computing, and, finally, advanced topics such as designing custom software and going wireless. Even the most advanced user will find a lot to learn in this book. Tired of handwriting your prescriptions, seraching for your peak flow slide rule or obstetrical wheel, or using index cards for billing while on rounds? You'll learn how to do all these things and more on your handheld, including patient record keeping, medical calculations, electronic prescribing, electronic billing, and database programming. Use of handheld computers in large practices and residencies is highlighted as well, and a chapter on teaching others to use handheld computers rounds out this definitive guide.