Arthur T. Martella, M.D.
Medical Director, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Paoli Hospital
Medical Director, Lung Cancer Program, Bryn Mawr Hospital
Paoli, PA

Dr. Art Martella works in Main Line Health as the Medical Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Paoli Hospital and the Medical Director of the Lung Cancer Program at Brym Mawr Hospital.

A few years ago, there was a push among hospital residents at Bryn Mawr for the staff to access more medical information on a PDA via the 5-Minute Clinical Consult. Researching several medical websites to find more titles he could use, Dr. Martella found that Skyscape, offering over 300 titles in 35 separate medical specialties, met his needs.

Dr. Martella relies on Skyscape’s Clinical Constellation, which he calls a “beautiful thing”, to access to critical information about drugs, diseases, interactions, lab information, treatment options and guidelines. The Clinical Constellation is an intuitive, all-in-one solution of fully-integrated references for the handheld device. Also, with Skyscape’s smARTlink technology, he can click through different references and look up more in-depth information on related topics.

Prior to using Skyscape-powered titles, Dr. Martella was only using his Palm Pilot to jot down notes. “Before, I didn’t have anything equivalent to Skyscape. But now, with immediate access to information, things have changed. Rather than jotting something down and looking it up later if I have the time, I can look up something immediately."

One great advantage to adopting this new technology for Dr. Martella is time management. “A five minute phone call from a pharmacy used to turn into a 45 minute problem,” with Dr. Martella having to look up widespread information from various sources. In addition he points out he doesn’t have time to go to the library and look something up if he needs it. “If the information is readily available, people will look at."

Dr. Martella estimates he receives an unscheduled incoming phone call from a patient at least once a day. He has found that his PDA best prepares him for these broad, general inquiries. In one instance, he took a call from a patient who was experiencing severe diarrhea and nausea and was not immediately sure why. Using his Skyscape-powered titles, he quickly went through the list of the patient’s medications, saw how they interacted and quickly and accurately determined which one was producing these side effects. “Before, I didn’t have the information available and would have to contact other physicians. Now this is not a chore, it’s a pleasure.” This is also helpful when Dr. Martella receives a call from a referring physician looking for patient information.

Another advantage Dr. Martella has recognized is the end of second-guessing dosage information. Before, he would oftentimes wonder “Did I give the right dosage?” Now, he can look up the information while on the phone and, as he puts it, “I can talk intelligently. It is easy to look up and feel comfortable sharing the information”. This also eliminated the time required to research the dosage information from sources that might not be readily available.

Based on the success of this technology adoption, Dr. Martella is looking to provide all of his physician assistants at both Paoli and Bryn Mawr PDAs to manage patients in their clinical practice. .

Meanwhile, Dr. Martella continues to enjoy the benefits of having surgical information at in his hand or his coat pocket. “Anything that makes my life a little easier and more efficient is a good thing.”