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Healthcare Apps Toolkit: Drugs

The best free or nearly free apps for healthcare including point of care, drug, medical calculators, healthcare specialities, keeping current (browsing tables of content of journals or monitoring RSS feeds), for patients, and for productivity.

Drug Apps

Drug reference tools are some of the most popular and useful apps for heatlhcare providers.  Apps answer frequent bedside drug questions such as the proper dosing, pharmacology, adverse side effects, drug –drug interactions,  pregnancy safety and formulary issues.  

UpToDate Lexidrug (formerly Lexicomp)

Type of App: Drug
Cost: Free
Availability: UM Faculty, Staff, and Students
Access: Using iTunes or Google Play for various smart phones and mobile devices
 

Full-text collection of 15 clinical drug information databases, and over 1600 drug monographs. Includes an excellent tool for checking drug interactions.  A limited number of accounts are available through Library's subscription (these are offered on a first come first served basis). 

CPS by Canadian Pharmacists Association

Type of App: Drug
Cost: Free
Availability: UM Faculty, Staff, and Students
Access: Using the Apple App Store or Google Play for various smart phones and mobile devices

CPS is Canada's authoritative source for prescribing and managing drug therapy at the point of care, providing health care professionals with online and mobile access to evidence-based, reliable Canadian drug and therapeutic information. To get access to CPS Mobile via the app follow these installation instructions:

  1. Get the UML Organization Code
  2. Follow the instructions outlined in the PDF 'CPS Mobile Access Instructions'  [also linked below]

AccessPharmacy

Type of App: Point of Care
Cost: Free
Availability: UM Faculty, Staff, and Students
Access: Using the Apple App Store or Google Play for various smart phones and mobile devices

60+ medical titles including Harrison's Online, Tintinalli's Emergency Medicine, Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment, Hurst's The Heart, Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, and the Lange educational library series.  Installation instructions:

  1. Go the UM Libraries A to Z Database Listing
  2. Click one of the links to either AccessMedicine or AccessEmergencyMedicine or AccessPharmacy.
  3. You may be asked to authenticate with your UMNetID and password (UM email login).
  4. Click on My Profile (see upper right-hand side of screen).
  5. Click on Sign In or Create a Free Access Profile (you are creating a free Access profile).
  6. Follow the instructions on screen to create your Access userid and password.  If you are prompted to add an email address use your UM email.  You may also need to confirm your account via email. 
  7. Once you have created a free account, download and install the Access app (from one of the supported app stores) onto your device.
    1. iOS
    2. Android
  8. After you have installed the app, open it on your device.  You will be prompted to sign in.  
  9. Sign in using the userid and password you created in step 6.  You should now have access for the next 90 days. This will give you access to all the content in the three Access products we have.

To renew your Access app (every 90 days):

  1. Go to one of our Access products (AccessEmergencyMedicine, AccessMedicine or AccessPharmacy) through the UM Libraries website (on a web browser).  
  2. This may require you to authenticate yourself with your UMNetID and password as in step 3 (see above).
  3. And then sign into My Profile using the Access userid and password you created in step 6 (see above).  This will then renew you for another 90 days.

RxFiles+

rxfiles_logoType of App: Drug
Cost: Free
Availability: UM Faculty, Staff, and Students

Access:  Using iTunes or Google Play for various smart phones and mobile devices

RxFiles is an independent provider of objective, comparative drug information and education in Canada. We sift through the evidence, expert opinion and marketing hype in search of a balanced, evidence based and clinically relevant summary of drug information useful for therapeutic decision making.

​​Installation Instructions:

  1. Go the iTunes or Google Play and download the RxFiles+ App
  2. On your mobile device visit RxFiles via the UM Library website and ensure you are connected via wifi (not cellular data) to allow your IP address to be recognized
  3. Look for UManitobaPartner2024-25-PARTNER in the upper-right hand corner of the screen inside the Login box
  4. On the RxFiles website click the 'activate IOS/Android App'. Allow your mobile device to open the RxFiles+ App
  5. The first screen on the app will ask you for login info. Hit cancel
  6. The app should now say 'Unlocked from unverified IP'
  7. You can now use the RxFiles+ app

NOTE: The app will be active for 3 months. You will need to reactive (start at Step #2) to continue access.