Esther Choo, MD, MPH, an emergency medicine physician at Rhode Island Hospital and assistant professor in the department of emergency medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, considers herself a digital health person. “I believe technology can help us be more efficient and deliver better care, safer care, and improve our patients’ lives.”

But she doesn’t consider herself a techie. The challenges to integrating new technologies, she said, are just overcome by the benefits.

As an intern, her coat pockets were bursting with reference books and cards, an eye chart, a penlight, and other tools. She estimates she was hauling around an extra five to 10 pounds. Today, she has replaced all of these with her smartphone.

In her Tuesday session, “‘There’s an App for That’: Handheld Devices and Applications That You Should Know About,” Dr. Choo will review technology that is changing the way physicians practice, from single and multipurpose apps to an on-demand comprehensive drug database to a handy digital device.

From the beginner to the experienced app user, Dr. Choo intends to offer a little bit for everybody, reviewing 10 low-cost apps and devices all physicians should know. It will be just enough to narrow down what’s out there and to whet the appetite, she said. “A lot has changed over the past 15 years. These innovations are the kinds of things that excite me, and I hope to share that with others.”

Kelly Tyrrell is a health, science, and health policy writer based in Madison, Wisconsin.

Dr. Choo

“There’s an App for That”: Handheld Devices and Applications That You Should Know About

Tuesday, Oct. 27
1:30–2:20 p.m.
Room 253 ABC