The federal government is studying the use of PDAs to rapidly communicate information about biological alerts and emergencies. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will use a private network that is part of ePocrates to send test messages to approximately 700,000 clinicians (250,000 physicians) to assess the process of sending this information and evaluate if they find it useful.
The Health and Human Services Department is seeking a way to communicate crucial information to the 'front-line' clinicians. The test message will contain a memo about the highest-level threat of biological agents, including anthrax, botulism, plague, smallpox, tularemia, and viral fevers such as Ebola. Web links will be included to obtain additional information on diagnosis and treatment of people exposed to biological agents; the information can be saved on a PDA for future reference.
The pilot is the first approved under a Health and Human Services initiative begun last year to look at private-sector health efforts to see if they can improve bioterrorism preparedness or public health overall. The program is run by the Council on Private Sector Initiatives to Improve the Security, Safety, and Quality of Health Care.
Source: Information Week
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