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How Alan uses his iPhone in clinical neurospsychology

I recently had an interesting comment from a reader on a previous post on using the iPhone for clinical medicine. Allan Perry-Small is a neuropsychologist has a well thought out strategy for using his iPhone to look after patients and agreed to share it with us.*

Alan, it is great to have you participate in this blog community. Could you explain who you are and what sort of work you do?

I am a Consultant Neuropsychologist in the UK and see clients for assessment and treatment of the sequelae of acquired brain injury. Much of my work is therapy where I use cognitive behavioural techniques, especially those drawn from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and that are therefore more mindfulness based. I therefore need to keep notes session to session on content and the progress of each client.

For many years I had managed my diary and client contacts on a trusty Palm Tungsten T3 and had been looking for an ‘all in one’ solution for some time.

What technology do you use to support your clinical work?

I use a PC at home and a laptop whilst in the office and I had always been able to synchronize the Palm with both so data was backed up each day. I have looked at medical record software but as my practice consists of only me, it always seemed a rather elaborate and expensive solution for a small business.

I found a programme called HanDbase several years ago which is designed for portable devices like the Palm but also has a desktop version for backing up and creating databases. I had not had much success with formatting databases in the past, having gotten very confused with MS Access. HanDbase was quite different and very easy to learn and set up. You can create your own database for any purpose in a matter of minutes and it is ideal for those who, like me, are database phobic.

How do you use your iPhone to track patient information?

HanDBase

When the iPhone came along I jumped ship from a long love affair with a Nokia 6310i to what has become an iconic piece of hardware. Little in the way of professional software was available for the iphone to begin with but HanDbase bought out a version for the device during the latter part of 2008. I use this software as follows.

I have two separate databases that link together to look like one seamless information manager.

• The first is Patient Data with fields for all identifying information, reason for referral etc.
• From this there is a link to the Contacts database which allows me to note contacts with any client, the date, duration and a clinical records section for my notes.
• It is possible to link from here to a charging database to record costs etc.

This is backed up via wifi and can thus be done on my laptop when in the office and at home onto my main desktop.

Saisuke

The second piece of software that arrived for the iphone last year was Saisuke. An unusual name but it is an excellent diary programme. Despite my love of the iphone, I was reluctant to give up my T3 as the diary was so easy to use and very reliable. I found the native iphone diary too simplistic and also too effortful and without the views that I was used to. I was also loathed to sync it with Outlook as it is a piece of software that I never use.

Saisuke is innovative as it allows me to sync with the free online Google Calendar. This means that I can create appointments on my iphone that instantly appear on my Google Calendar and vice versa. The utility for me is that either I or my secretary can change or add appointments and both of us know instantly that the current calendar is up to date. This is a real advantage and saves the need for any phone calls between us to clarify appointments. In addition, Saisuke allows list, day, month or even year view and so getting to dates is almost as quick as with the old T3.

Remember the Milk

The final piece of software is again both internet and iphone based and is called ‘Remember The Milk’. It is an online task management tool which synchronizes instantly with the iphone.

• I can put tasks on there for me or my secretary which she can pick up and monitor.
• I can set priorities, who needs to do what and whether I want things sent in the post, emailed or whether I need someone calling.
• In addition, I can set my own tasks and have a constant log of what work related (or home related to that matter) jobs still need my attention.

How do you keep the data on your phone backed up, and secure?

HanDbase syncs to my PC’s so as long as they are secured then so is my data. The other two programmes are on secure servers with log on via password so the information is as secure as any other internet based account.

Are there any non-tech techniques you use alongside this to keep track of your information?

I try to be as paperless as possible. I have files for keeping correspondence but everything else is electronic.

Can you compare the advantages and disadvantages of this system with others you have used in the past?

The advantages of the systems I have set up is that I have one device, an iphone, and everything flows from there. As long as I have it with me and sync it on days when I have entered new data, then all is well.

So far, I have not had any problems. As everything is backed up, even if I lost the phone (something I have never done with any phone to date!) I could access all the information from my laptop and can run HanDbase just as it runs from my iphone and the other two programmes are web based so I just need an internet connection.

If there is one disadvantage it is the speed of entering data on the iphone. I had a hardware keyboard for the T3 which was a joy to use and whilst I am reasonably quick on the native iphone keyboard, a hardware keyboard that docked with the phone would be the icing on the cake.

Is there a dream application that you wish you could find for the iPhone for patient care?

The dream application for the iphone would be something that could do everything my three programmes can do. It would be great to a piece of software that could effortless generate billing invoices as well as track all the data and keep it diarized-like a Sage application with additional facilities- and that is idiot proof.

Can you suggest any tweaks to your system?

Tweaking the system I have is likely to come via me delving into designing forms for the HanDbase programme. These given pleasing and functional interfaces to the databases, but they require time and application and my database development attention is limited as I have said.

And finally, what is your favourite unproductive use for your iPhone?

The most unproductive use of my iphone has to be surfing the Appstore. I seem to spend more time looking at what’s new than using the programmes I have bought! Having said that, I am addicted to Solitaire City and love the graphics of X-Plane flight simulator.

What a fantastic set up! I love how the system is arranged to allow Allan and his secretary to access up to date information, and sync it with each other. Really slick.

*If anyone else would like to share their systems, I would be very interested to hear from you.

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