Skyscape Helps Medical Professionals Interpret Natural Medicines

SKYSCAPE HELPS MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS INTERPRET NATURAL MEDICINES

Leader in Mobile Medical Solutions Brings First Complete Natural Medicines and Alternative Therapies References to PDA Users

HUDSON, Mass. - December 4, 2002 - Skyscape, Inc., the leading provider of interactive, intelligent mobile solutions for the healthcare community, today announced three new natural medicine and alternative therapies references, including Guide to Popular Natural Products (GNP) published by Facts and Comparisons, a complete version of Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database published by Therapeutic Research Center and Therapeutic Research Facility and the Nursing Herbal Medicine Handbook published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. The addition of these titles, which are PDA versions of the same trusted, recognized medical reference publications used by physicians and other healthcare practitioners across the globe, gives medical professionals unprecedented access to the most comprehensive, top quality natural product and alternative medicine information available today. Further, Skyscape’s patented smARTlink™ technology enables end users to seamlessly connect with other medical references loaded onto their PDAs—allowing them to move in real time from diagnosing to determining treatment options and potential drug interactions and now even between natural products and traditional drug therapies. This is only possible with the Skyscape solution.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), as defined by the federal government’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine. The list of what is considered to be CAM changes continually, as those therapies that are proven to be safe and effective become adopted into conventional health care and as new approaches to health care emerge.

The availability of natural medicine and alternative therapies has existed for thousands of years but more recently these treatment strategies have become more accepted by all types of medical practitioners and consumers. Due to their new acceptance and the variety of options, healthcare providers often find it difficult to keep track of all the potential therapy options and treatments. Fortunately, today more and more of these alternative medicine options are being documented and researched by organizations including NCCAM making the access to this information easier and more trustworthy. This information, which is now available in easy to use formats, has significant health-related implications since:

• 50 percent of Americans use alternative therapies.
• Almost one-quarter of parents are using alternative medicine for their children, but only two-thirds of them are informing the child's primary physician about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use.

The first Skyscape-powered medical reference for the alternative medicine market is:

• GNP™ - This comprehensive PDA version of Guide to Natural Products, published by Facts and Comparisons, includes 125 informative monographs covering the most popular herbal products. Each monograph contains scientific and common names; patient information; references; and abridged sections on Botany, History, Pharmacology and Toxicology. Based on scientific research, the Guide to Popular Natural Products also includes several valuable appendices: Drug Interactions Charts, Sources of Natural Product Information, Herbal Diuretics Chart, and Poison Control Center Information. Also included are a Therapeutic Index, a comprehensive Primary Index, and color photographs of featured botanicals.

Within the next few weeks, Skyscape will be adapting and releasing additional natural products and alternative medicine references for use with handheld devices including:

• The PDA version of Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, published by Therapeutic Research, includes the full content of the textbook (over 1,900 pages) with even more information than the previous edition of this gold standard for evidence-based, clinical information on natural medicines. It is the most complete and up-to-date reference available.
  
  
• RnHerbal™ - This PDA version of Nursing Herbal Medicine Handbook published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, closely resembles the format of the Nursing Drug Handbook (NDH), including monograph formats. The Nursing Considerations section is substantial, with a strong focus on drug interaction, drug history, administration and patient teaching information. The focus is on needs of the practicing nurse related to herbal medicines rather than on the medicines themselves.
  
  

These references launch Skyscape’s natural product and alternative medicine core offering, which ultimately will include several other well known titles from world-wide publishers.

"I've been using Skyscape products for almost a year, and they are my favorite handheld applications,” said Stephen B. Burgess, MD, Ph.D., Medical Director, Weddington Internal Medicine / Pediatrics. “The Guide to Popular Natural Products powered by Skyscape has provided a fantastic reference for a topic that is not covered well in medical school. I've owned it only a few weeks, and have used it almost daily in my general med/peds practice."

Skyscape in Action

Skyscape’s solutions bring critical, actionable information to healthcare workers in a context they can use—reducing the time they need to spend consulting information and adding value by enabling complex information queries and access to the latest drug information. Research has shown that the ability to capture and retrieve information at the point-of-care can reduce the time it takes to deliver care in half and can significantly reduce prescription errors. The power of handhelds has been recognized by the medical industry, with almost 50 percent of doctors using the devices today.

Through the use of Skyscape solutions on their handhelds, physicians and other medical professionals can diagnose illnesses, determine treatment, prescribe medication, identify drug interactions, calculate dosages, and perform all the necessary steps involved with quality patient care right at the patient’s bedside. ART-based solutions enable practitioners to follow their own intuitive thought process and workflow, improving care quality and reducing administrative time.

“When faced with patients who sometimes treat themselves or have heard about alternative treatments, physicians require all the up-to-date information available—they must present their patients with a complete assessment of the situation with confidence and clarity,” said RJ Mathew, vice president marketing and business development for Skyscape. “These new natural products titles, combined with the ability to smARTlink with other medical references, empower physicians and others to provide access to all types of treatments quickly and knowledgably.”

About Skyscape

Skyscape is the leading provider of interactive, intelligent mobile solutions for the healthcare community. Skyscape utilizes its patented ART (Advanced Reference and Transaction) infrastructure technology to create compelling high-value solutions for handheld devices that reflect and support the intuitive thought processes of the medical practitioner. Skyscape’s solutions significantly improve the quality and efficiency of medical decision making—at the point of care—by enabling doctors to diagnose illnesses, determine treatment, prescribe medication, identify drug interactions, calculate dosages and perform all the necessary steps involved with quality patient care.

Skyscape has the largest installed base of paying customers in the industry including individual and communities of medical practitioners at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Stanford Medical School, Partners Health System, Duke University, Mayo Clinic, and Kaiser Permanente. Skyscape’s solutions are available on multiple platforms including Palm OS®, Windows® CE, and Pocket PC. For more information about Skyscape, please visit our Web site at www.skyscape.com.