Epocrates


When you think of medical apps, one of the first that comes to mind is Epocrates. A popular drug reference app going back the age of the PalmPilot, its now one of many drug reference apps that clinicians can choose from. Here, we’ll look at the latest version of Epocrates to see how it stacks up.

Clinicians create a free account on Epocrates that allows for updates of clinical information and medical news. Required information includes first and last names, email, password, and country where the user is currently living. Zip code, profession, and specialties may also be included which helps to tailor medical news included in the app. According to the Privacy Policy, this information may be used to send emails regarding commercial and non-commercial communications. Users may opt-out by sending an email to support@epocrates.com. Epocrates is best known for its extensive drug database. Users can search for medications by generic name, brand name, or using a list of conditions. Searching by condition yields a list of medications by drug class that can be used. Treatment options are listed in alphabetical order rather than by first or second-line usage. Unfortunately with latest versions at the time of review many users report poor performance and crashes.

 Features:
  • Drug dosing recommendations
  • Interaction checker
  • Pill ID
  • Picture quizzes and video features
  • Access national/regional healthcare insurance formularies
  • Interaction checker
  • Medical calculators
  • Scan brief summaries of practice-changing news from the medical literature as well as important updates from CDC and FDA 

Pros:
  • Pills IDs have real pictures
  • Both adult and paediatric dosing
  • Pregnancy and lactation considerations
  • Frequent updates
Cons:
  • Serious performance issues and bugs reported by users
  • Forces the user into the news section every time the app is started
  • Not the friendliest user interfaces
  • Plus features are great but too costly ($174.99)
  • Pharmacology info is better than in past but still somewhat limited
  • Some information is referenced but no sources given for much of the info in the app
Android Store Rating: 4.3 (23,923 reviews)
Apple Store Rating 4.1 (580 reviews)

Android additional Information:
 Updated
1 Oct 2018
Size
Varies with device
Installs
1,000,000+
Requires Android
4.0 and up
Content Rating
PEGI 3
Store Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.epocrates&hl=en_GB  

Apple additional Information:
Size
127.1.7 MB
Compatibility
Requires iOS 9.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
Languages
English
Age Rating
  Rated 12+ for the following:
 Infrequent/Mild Medical/Treatment Information
 Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
Store Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/epocrates/id281935788?mt=8

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