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Top 5 Mobile Apps for Rheumatologists
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From full-motion video demonstrations of orthopedic clinical tests to suites of disease activity score calculators, these apps for Google and Apple mobile devices provide rheumatologists with useful and easy-to-access information at crucial moments in diagnosis and treatment.
From full-motion video demonstrations of orthopedic clinical tests to suites of disease activity score calculators, these apps for Google and Apple mobile devices provide rheumatologists with useful and easy-to-access information at crucial moments in diagnosis and treatment.
Cost: $1.99
Size: 10.7 MB
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices. Requires iOS 4.0 or later, or Android OS 2.1 and up.
Use: Research
Notes: Created by hand surgeon Jeffrey C. Wint, MD, and Hand Fed Apps developers, this app collects abstracts from the RSS feeds of 15 peer-reviewed musculoskeletal journals — from Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research to the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma — and allows users to pin their four favorite publications to the bottom of the home screen for faster access. Through sharing features established to “encourage users to discuss articles and links regarding orthopedics,” rheumatologists can send abstracts to other orthopedic specialists directly from the app via Twitter, Facebook or text message.
Cost: FREE
Size: 712 KB
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices. Requires iOS 5.0 or later, or Android OS 2.2 and up. Optimized for iPhone 5.
Use: Diagnosis
Notes: Heralded as a mobile rheumatology toolbox, this pocket reference offers a wide range of classification criteria and comprehensive disease activity score calculators to aid rheumatologists throughout day-to-day diagnoses. Classifications include rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, peripheral spondyloarthritis and inflammatory back pain, while disease activity calculators include DAS-28, the Clinical Disease Activity Index, the Simple Disease Activity Index and the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index.
CORE-Clinical Orthopaedic Exam
Cost: $39.99
Size: 5.9 MB
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices. Requires iOS 5.0 or later, or Android OS 1.6 and up. Optimized for iPhone 5.
Use: Diagnosis
Notes: With multiple physical exam maneuvers assigned to every possible tendinous, neuropathic and ligamentous issue in each body part, it can be challenging for rheumatologists to recall the purpose and specifics of different maneuvers in evaluating a musculoskeletal injury. That’s where this bedside app comes in handy, as it includes video walkthroughs and step-by-step text instructions on more than 400 evidence-based clinical tests across all extremities, as well as the spine.
Cost: $38.99
Size: 2.2 MB
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.
Use: Diagnosis and Treatment
Notes: If you’ve ever forgotten to check for a very specific rheumatic disease while examining a patient, this mobile checklist will make sure you always run every test. Engineered by Medical Wizards Corporation, the app presents clinical musculoskeletal conditions — as well as their treatment options — as tally marks to provide “practical guidance at the point of care, allowing (users) to properly treat and manage patients without missing any steps along the way.” Additional features include commonly encountered situations and lab work-up recommendations.
Cost: $14.99
Size: 13.7 MB
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices. Requires iOS 4.3 or later, or Android OS 1.6 and up.
Use: Treatment
Notes: Though this app is more limited in its diagnostic test and technique offerings than CORE-Clinical Orthopaedic Exam (*include link to previous webpage*), the mobilization half of it goes a significant step further into the treatment space by including high-resolution photos and concise descriptions of 88 therapeutic joint mobilization techniques commonly executed by rheumatologists and physical therapists. Users access individual tests and treatments based on injured areas by touching one of the eight major joint and spine sections on the homepage skeleton.
