Personal computing discussed

Moderators: askfranklin, renee, emkubed, Captain Ned

 
anotherengineer
Gerbil Jedi
Topic Author
Posts: 1688
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:53 pm
Location: Northern, ON Canada, Yes I know, Up in the sticks

ipod touch alternatives

Thu Dec 13, 2012 4:38 pm

Good day.

Wife wants an ipod touch or something like it. She is a nurse, so basic use will be to check meds (side effects - dosages, etc.) and possibly do small calculations for concentrations - dosage rates, etc.

iphone could obviously do this also, but it is out of the budget.

Are there any viable alternatives to the ipod touch?

Thanks
Last edited by anotherengineer on Thu Dec 13, 2012 11:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Life doesn't change after marriage, it changes after children!
 
Captain Ned
Global Moderator
Posts: 28704
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Vermont, USA

Re: ipod touch alternatives

Thu Dec 13, 2012 5:03 pm

What are the Canadian equivalents to the US HIPPA legislation? Under US law such a device would need to be managed centrally by her employer to ensure no leakage of personal medical information.
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
MadManOriginal
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1533
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: In my head...

Re: ipod touch alternatives

Thu Dec 13, 2012 5:22 pm

An off-contract phone, either new or used.

Samsung makes a line of Galaxy Players which run Android. The 5" and 4.2" have pretty long battery life, I had a 5" one for a while and it's decent. Not the fastest thing around but the battery life even with WiFi on was quite good.

Does it need to be as small as an ipod touch? 7" tablets actually aren't all that big, maybe check out a Nexus 7 in person to get an idea.
 
TheEmrys
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2529
Joined: Wed May 29, 2002 8:22 pm
Location: Northern Colorado
Contact:

Re: ipod touch alternatives

Thu Dec 13, 2012 5:23 pm

HIPPA is pretty vague. And to just look at drug interactions and non-patient specific information, it should be fine.

Why not just a smartphone upgrade? iPod touch is essentially an iPhone without the phoney parts.

(Phoney parts cracks me up a bit....)
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
paulWTAMU
Emperor Gerbilius I
Posts: 6257
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2004 5:14 am
Location: Dallas, Texas

Re: ipod touch alternatives

Thu Dec 13, 2012 7:11 pm

What are the Canadian equivalents to the US HIPPA legislation? Under US law such a device would need to be managed centrally by her employer to ensure no leakage of personal medical information.


I *think* that you can get by if your software is third party and all data is stored offsite and you just use your personal device to log into a portal. Not 100% sure though (consult with lawyer!). You can't save anything locally though. Like, the software we use you can access from anything with a net connection if you have the address for it, and you enter your username and password. All our data's stored there, none of it touches our machines. I don't know if case work stuff is handled differently than more traditional medicine though.
Ugly people have sex all the time. We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion humans if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
 
anotherengineer
Gerbil Jedi
Topic Author
Posts: 1688
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:53 pm
Location: Northern, ON Canada, Yes I know, Up in the sticks

Re: ipod touch alternatives

Thu Dec 13, 2012 11:31 pm

Captain Ned wrote:
What are the Canadian equivalents to the US HIPPA legislation? Under US law such a device would need to be managed centrally by her employer to ensure no leakage of personal medical information.


No personal information is used by them, they just like the convenience of searching meds/conditions from a little toy instead of the big medical bible they have in the back room that's 20 yrs. old. Most of the hospitals up here have no in-house pharmacist on nightshift, and since it's the nurse's responsibility to give out meds to patients, most of them double check the med prescribed, typical dosage rate, possible side effects, etc. you know to help prevent medical accidental deaths.
Life doesn't change after marriage, it changes after children!
 
Captain Ned
Global Moderator
Posts: 28704
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Vermont, USA

Re: ipod touch alternatives

Fri Dec 14, 2012 12:12 am

anotherengineer wrote:
Captain Ned wrote:
What are the Canadian equivalents to the US HIPPA legislation? Under US law such a device would need to be managed centrally by her employer to ensure no leakage of personal medical information.
No personal information is used by them, they just like the convenience of searching meds/conditions from a little toy instead of the big medical bible they have in the back room that's 20 yrs. old. Most of the hospitals up here have no in-house pharmacist on nightshift, and since it's the nurse's responsibility to give out meds to patients, most of them double check the med prescribed, typical dosage rate, possible side effects, etc. you know to help prevent medical accidental deaths.

Ah, so you're looking for an electronic PDR.
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
Flying Fox
Gerbil God
Posts: 25690
Joined: Mon May 24, 2004 2:19 am
Contact:

Re: ipod touch alternatives

Fri Dec 14, 2012 4:31 am

Unless there is some website (meaning: cross platform) that she can logon to and do the lookups/calculations, you will be at the mercy of which platform the reference is available on in the form of apps.
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

Gerbils unite! Fold for UnitedGerbilNation, team 2630.
 
Thatguy
Gerbil
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2012 1:41 am

Re: ipod touch alternatives

Fri Dec 14, 2012 10:00 am

Flying Fox wrote:
Unless there is some website (meaning: cross platform) that she can logon to and do the lookups/calculations, you will be at the mercy of which platform the reference is available on in the form of apps.


Yep. Much to my dismay with all the things i like about my WP7 i DOES NOT have a Medscape app. I would certainly have liked to have it on my phone for easy reference during school this past year. That said if she is logging into a website for the info you also have a lot more options than if she uses a specific app.
Athlon II x4 630 (3.5)|MSI 890gxm-g65|12gb ddr3-1333|Corsair cx400w|Dell U2312HM|MSI 7850|Force gt 120gb| Realtek intergrated goodness
 
anotherengineer
Gerbil Jedi
Topic Author
Posts: 1688
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:53 pm
Location: Northern, ON Canada, Yes I know, Up in the sticks

Re: ipod touch alternatives

Fri Dec 14, 2012 11:47 am

So basically an ipod touch is the best option. Oky doky then.

"Ah, so you're looking for an electronic PDR."

I'm sure the hospital has that and that's why she wants the ipod to access it anywhere. She con't convey tech terms the best, so it usually leaves me confused.
They have an actual book, but running back and forth from front desk to patient rooms all over the floor, and looking through a book is too time consuming.

Other nurse's and most Doc's have them, I was just wondering if there was a way around the 'apple tax' ?
Life doesn't change after marriage, it changes after children!
 
superjawes
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2475
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 9:49 am

Re: ipod touch alternatives

Fri Dec 14, 2012 12:01 pm

anotherengineer wrote:
Other nurse's and most Doc's have them, I was just wondering if there was a way around the 'apple tax' ?
Not really. Even if you buy refurbished or from a friend, you're probably going to get slapped with an inflated price.

I know engraving isn't much, but you might be able to at least personalize one for free (through Apple). Unfortunately, the new iPod Touches are pretty damn expensive (did not realize that). An iPhone tied to a contract might actually be cheaper...
On second thought, let's not go to TechReport. It's infested by crypto bull****.
 
anotherengineer
Gerbil Jedi
Topic Author
Posts: 1688
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:53 pm
Location: Northern, ON Canada, Yes I know, Up in the sticks

Re: ipod touch alternatives

Fri Dec 14, 2012 1:34 pm

Thanks.

Most of the iphones up in these parts are free with a 3yr. contract, of apparently $50/mo which would be $1800 over 3 yrs. and probably add 13% tax to that also, sigh. I guess I could buy an iphone outright for 650 and get payas you go through bell?

Ya a $200 touch is looking better all the time.

However I would have to look into it more, as there could be other packages available.
Life doesn't change after marriage, it changes after children!
 
MadManOriginal
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1533
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: In my head...

Re: ipod touch alternatives

Fri Dec 14, 2012 2:08 pm

If it would still be suitable for her (check battery life, memory size etc.) there is always the Apple direct refurb store page: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/s ... ipod_touch

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On