BusinessWeek covers (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_35/b3897450.htm) an article on the healthcare leading software for Palm OS PDAs. The writer argues that handhelds are becoming vital partners for managing your health:

"Today's Palms, Pocket PCs -- and even some cell phones -- are packed with enough memory to store your entire family's medical history. Advanced features such as Bluetooth wireless messaging and the ability to transport data into PC-based spreadsheets and other applications make it that much easier to maintain your health. Whether you're grappling with a serious medical problem, expecting a baby, or simply counting carbs, you're likely to find a program to help."

Interesting for all those who believed that PDAs are only good for managing appointments and contacts!

This goes back to the use of the Apple Newton MessagePad in healthcare (http://www.oldschool.net/newton/papers/who_uses_newton.html#healthcare), one of the markets segments where the Newton did very well.

The article talks a lot about the "patient" side of using a PDA to manage personal well-being but fails to touch on the impact on the provider side of the equation.

As handheld computers get more powerful and wireless networks become ubiquitous in hospitals and doctor's offices, the PDA is truly becoming an indispensible tool for physicians and other healthcare workers. They can carry the entire Physician's Desk Reference (http://www.pdr.net/pdrnet/librarian/PFPUI/62641321/ND_CP/Home/CS/0685AB/ND_T/PDRnet780/ND_P/HomeMenu/DUPLICATIONSHIELDSYNC/8FB2D0/ND_B/PDRnet/PFActionId/pf.ShowPage/PageId/pdrnet.MobilePDR) and use programs like ePocrates (http://www.epocrates.com) or PatientKeeper (http://www.patientkeeper.com/) to help in the diagnosis of illnesses, then track and manage the patient's history and billing in a HIPAA compliant application. PDAs can also be used by healthcare workers or the patient to fill out questionnaires and other forms.

They are also an inexpensive, portable, viable laptop replacement for clinicians working with limited resources and in underdeveloped areas.

There's a lot of information on this topic available here (http://www.mobilehealthdata.com/portal-pda.cfm?endrow=all).