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Products (All products available in Palm or PPC)
Comparisons & Comments
Epocrates Rx (FREE)
The most basic Epocrates product. Contains the drug reference and drug interaction tool as contained in the Rx tab. Still the standard in gratis drug references.
Epocrates Essentials (~$150/yr)
Epocrates Essentials is far and away the most powerful medical reference available even for pediatricians. That statement is not an exaggeration. There are no other electronic medical references on the web, handheld or stand-alone products that offer as useful a combination of robust medication reference, differential diagnosis tool linked to a powerful disease reference, lab guide, an ID guide and many other helpful tools. While the annual price for the Essentials product is a big bite of cash you are getting the Rolls Royce of medical handheld products.
Epocrates Rx Pro (~$60/yr)
Contains all of Rx and adds the ID tool, alternative med guide, tables & guidelines, medical calculators as well as an IV compatibility reference.
The first spin-off from the original product Rx, RxPro is a mix of different tools. They range in utility from the room-for-improvement ID guide to the helpful IV compatibility reference. It does not seem worthy of $60/yr over the free Rx.
Epocrates SxDx (~$70/yr)
Contains all of Rx, adds a diagnosis reference based on the 5 Minute Medical Consult and it adds Epocrates latest edition an interactive differential diagnosis guide.
The Sx and Dx components of this make its addition to the Rx a very good product and useful for pediatric clinicians.
Epocrates Lab (~$60/yr)
Contains all of Rx and adds a lab guide.
Combining a lab reference to the Rx, while helpful is just not enough of a strong product to warrant the price.
Handheld Products Comparison
All Epocrates products update automatically with each sync. This feature is called AutoUpdate . Also all Epocrates products contain the basic medication reference as well as the drug interaction program called MultiCheck.
General Comments on Epocrates:
Epocrates strength has always been that it is pushing the rest of the handheld reference market. Currently their deluxe offering, Epocrates Essentials, is the most capable handheld reference available today (probably by a long shot).
The information contained in each tab is usually concise and relevant information however there are more extensive references available for everything that Epocrates offers. For example, there are several medication references that have more information about each drug, but none that combine their references with as diverse amount of information as Epocrates.
Also these products typically run at the top heap in terms of cost. Other than their free product Epocrates Rx (which is the most reasonably priced product ;-)) these references while not vastly overpriced are surely not cheap.
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