InfantRisk HCP 12+

off to a good start (version 1.0)

This app is expensive compared to the other work-related apps I use (Mediquations, Medical Calc, Eponyms, Ubertime), but cheap compared to the text books it will probably replace over time. Obviously, it also has the portability advantage.

Best features noted so far:
- the capacity to bookmark meds/vitamins/non-prescription substances into one alphabetically arranged list
- search by trade or generic name
- simple coding, symbols for each trimester of pregnancy & early/mid/late stages of lactation
- the quality of the info matches my (limited) knowledge of the best available evidence; eg it was encouraging to see the risks of cannabis rated & described with the same dispassionate language & coding used for sertraline, st john's wort & folic acid - none of the shrill moral panic that distorts some info about illicit substances
- it loads quickly & hasn't crashed at all

Things to consider for improvement
- the ability to access more detail PRN - this app summarises the evidence, but doesn't give access to the evidence. For instance, one of the best features of Hale's "Medications & Mother's Milk" is the few paragraphs that distill the studies considered credible. This app won't replace text books until it offers a similar feature.
- I can't find flupenthixol - I guess this goes by a different name or something in the US, but it would be handy for international use if cross-border nomenclature was built-in to the app
- I'm finding the "customised search with patient information" a bit fiddly & counterintuitive to use
- "search by condition" is a bit higgledy-piggledly in the way it's arranged AND omits a couple of the most common perinatal complications: anxiety & depression
- it would be handy if login across devices (eg: via iPad as well as iPhone) that the bookmarked meds were synced

Overall, this app is off to a good start. Version 1.0 shows a lot of promise, but it's not a text-book replacement. Yet.