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New Features in MICROMEDEXThe MICROMEDEXHealthcare Series is an online clinical reference and decision support tool. This evidence-based, peer reviewed resource provides a range of information that includes drugs, disease, acute/emergency care, toxicology, reproductive risk, and alternative medicine. MICROMEDEX is available through the HSLS Databasesby Title Web page at <www.hsls.pitt.edu/resources/databases/titles>, and also as a Quick Link from the HSLS home page <www.hsls.pitt.edu>. IV COMPATIBILITYA recently added MICROMEDEX feature, IV Compatibility, can be accessed from a tab on the MICROMEDEX home page. Use this tool to check single or multiple drugs (up to 50) for IV compatibility. Brand or generic names can be entered. Search results, which appear in chart format, include drug, y-site, admixture, and syringe compatibility information, as well as the parameters of physical compatibility, chemical stability, storage requirements, and container description. Links to bibliographic references are also included. Help screens specific to each page or topic are available by clicking Page Help.  A new MICROMEDEX feature can check single or multiple drugs for IV compatibility.  COMPARE DRUG SUMMARIESAnother newly added function, Compare Drug Summaries, enables you to enter a variety of drugs and compare them, two at a time, in a side-by-side chart format. Information includes generic name, trade name, therapeutic class, adult and pediatric dosing, indications, monitoring, precautions, adverse effects, pregnancy category, and more. Hypertext links within the drug comparison area open detailed monographs with supporting information for the summary presented on the comparison page. In addition to these newly added features, information about several established MICROMEDEX resources is well worth reviewing. mobileMICROMEDEXThrough the HSLS subscription, four clinical databases can easily be downloaded to a PDA. Select mobileMICROMEDEX System from the pull-down menu under the Formulary & Handheld tab to access the drug, disease, alternative medicine, and toxicology information files. The download is compatible with both the Palm OS and Pocket PC systems. When new information becomes available through MICROMEDEX, users’ PDAs are instantly updated every time they HotSync® (Palm) or ActiveSync® (Pocket PC). ALTERNATIVE MEDICINEWhen seeking alternative medicine information, do not overlook this file in MICROMEDEX. It provides evidence-based monographs, accompanied by bibliographic references, on herbals and dietary supplements, as well as information on alternative therapies for common health conditions. Any topic that has retrieval in one of the Alternative Medicine databases can be successfully searched from the main page, e.g. “arthritis, cayenne”. Identical results can be achieved by searching within the Alternative Medicine database, which can be selected from Select Databases button on the Main page. NOTE: HSLS subscribes to most, but not all of the MICROMEDEX functions. A “grayed out” file name indicates it is unavailable.
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