Epocrates Medical App Reviewed (you won’t believe the cost…)

In today’s tech-savvy market it’s out of the ordinary if you are not using medical apps in your every day practice. So, I am sure most of you have either seen and/or used the medical/prescribing apps mentioned below. However, just in case you have not and are still grappling with which ones to actually purchase, here is a no-frills review of Epocrates:

Epocrates:

Pros:

1. Arguably one of the most useful and universal medical apps on the market.
2. Despite the recent update, still a pretty clean, simple user interface.
3. New updates = New user-friendly features.
4. Quickly check interactions right from the medication information page.
5. Access to Guidelines for nearly all Specialties.
6. Pill identifier, pill pictures, tables and math equations.
7. Provides free empirically-based research articles, as well, as FDA Alerts:
   
   

   

   

Cons:

1. Empirically-based articles are in all Specialties and currently, there is no way to narrow it down. (see above, but please correct me if I’m wrong.)
2. Before the most recent update, the interface was a lot cleaner. Now, it seems convoluted, and a bit cluttered (see below).
3. New Features = More expensive. Some of the more useful features have to be unlocked via purchase. We are not talking about 0.99, 1.99, 0r 2.99 like most apps. It is 174.99/year!! That said, if you are willing to shell out the $, or your company will pay for it, this could be the ONLY app you need.
4. Guidelines are limited and not all-inclusive. (Specifically, Psychiatry only has 2 available.)
5. Marketing advertisement pop-ups.