Five years from now, it is likely that mobile technology will have completely revolutionized healthcare. Instead of long wait times, and having to potentially travel long distances, mobile technology will connect patients with the limited number of specialists that are available. It will also streamline the process for doctors and nurses and will likely significantly reduce paperwork. In addition, mobile technology will allow for patient files, once policies are updated, to be shared between all healthcare professionals involved with the patient. As such, this will help to improve patient safety, will streamline the time required to treat a patient, and will prevent the occurrence of duplicate treatment. In addition, mobile technology will quickly and easily allow for a second opinion on difficult cases. Because a complete patient history will likely be able to be provided using mobile technology, this will help to prevent the occurrence of drug interactions amongst patients (Ventola, 2014).
After researching the drug Ramipril using the Web-based version of EpcoratesRx, the main side effects of ramipril, referred to as common reactions, are that of fatigue, hypotension, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, photosensitivity, cough, hyperkalemia, BUN, and hyperuricemia. Furthermore, the drug should not be used during pregnancy as there is a potential risk of death to the fetus and it could lead to serious neonatal harm including restriction of intrauterine growth and oligohydramnios (EpocratesRx, 2018). To find the required information took approximately 2 minutes. This time included the initial search and then subsequently reading and synthesizing the required information. In comparison to PDR, it is not significantly faster. In addition, while it provides the common reactions it does not provide the incidence of these reactions, which is provided in PDR. Overall, while mobile technology may become useful in the future, currently the technology must develop further for it to be fully implemented amongst both medical professionals and patients.
- EpocratesRx. (2018). Altace-ramipril. Retrieved from: https://online.epocrates.com/drugs/379/Altace
- Ventola, C. L. (2014). Mobile devices and apps for health care professionals: uses and benefits. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 39(5), 356. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4029126/
