To Epocrates or Not to Epocrates?
I'm confused. I've been using Epocrates Essentials for two years now, and I love the program. The ability to look up diseases, medications, lab tests, tables and more has made this an invaluable tool in the clinical setting.
Then, a few months ago, I downloaded Medscape from WebMD on my iPhone. One striking difference between the two programs is that Epocrates costs $159/year, while Medscape is FREE! Of course, price isn't everything, and I'm certainly willing to pay if the tool provides significant additional utility.
I kept Epocrates around for a few extra months beyond my subscription end date by using their EssentialPoints feature. This is a feature typically sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, who will provide you with a free one-month extension to your subscription if you complete their "activity" on Epocrates.
This is a nice feature and, frankly, the "activities" are well done and worth your time in exchange for a free additional month. I've now hit the "update" button several times on Epocrates hoping for more free months, but it looks like I've reached the end of my free ride. It's time to pull out the credit card or say goodbye to one of my favorite tools.
I originally started using Medscape on my iPhone for CME activities. As a dad, one of my daily duties is to pick up my daughter from school. While I'm sitting in my car waiting for the rush of screaming kids to emerge from the school, I sit quietly and do a CME activity. I have been very impressed with the activities. They are quick, easy and informative.
While trolling around Medscape looking at CME activities, I started to notice the many other features and realized that the program has many more uses than just providing CMEs. It's truly an amazing piece of software for FREE! It contains sections for drugs, diseases, clinical procedures, a drug interaction checker, physician directory, medical references, and the list goes on.
I compared several common conditions between the two applications, and I'm pretty comfortable that the key information I need is in Medscape. Because asthma is a common condition, I did a comparison between the two software programs. Frankly, for the most common conditions, I think I'm fine just using Medscape. As far as drug references go, here is a comparison for Xopenex:
Epocrates on the left, Medscape on the right.
There are some obvious differences, too. For example, Epocrates has much more granularity in some categories. For example:
Epocrates on the left, Medscape on the right.
Now, here is the difficult part: many of the features I use on a daily basis are in Medscape. I'm just not sure if, on a frequent basis, I need the additional granularity of Epocrates or if it's worth the money for the subscription. As of today, my subscription for Epocrates has lapsed. I know I can always renew if I need the information. For now, I think I'm going to stick with Medscape.
I'm curious about your thoughts. Did I make the right decision?
Happy Computing!
Cheers,
Joe