Two local companies are joining the wave of businesses using technology to make doctors' record-keeping and reference searches more efficient.

MedCompanion of Boston and Skyscape of Hudson, both offering services through handheld devices, are part of a rather new marketplace.

According to a recent Dain Rauscher Wessels Inc. report, the handheld market for healthcare represents a more than $5 billion opportunity. Current penetration of handhelds, however, is less than 2 percent.

"Time is really what is needed here," said Dr. Malcolm Lloyd, chief executive officer of MedCompanion. "The technology is just becoming available to support mission-critical applications."

MedCompanion's technology is based on Palm Pilot computers or Pocket PCs and software. It is used to assure appropriate billing for services.

After treating a patient, doctors pull up the appropriate menu on the Palm, type in the procedure performed, and then download it directly to the hospital's billing system by pointing the device to receivers located throughout the building.

Skyscape, formed from a seven-year-old consulting company, offers doctors another type of timesaver.

Its software, through handheld devices, gives doctors access to drug information and medical data, and allows them instantly to cross-reference the two.

"Using books has been clumsy and not reliable," said R.J. Mathew, vice president of business development.

A doctor using Skyscape software can type a diagnosis into the handheld, read about the disease, view a list of drugs and examine drug interactions. There is an annual fee on a per title or bundle basis for use of the system. Reference materials are automatically updated as new copies of their hardcopy counterparts become available.

Sandeep Shah created Skyscape out of K2 Consultants after spending years exploring the future of handheld devices in medicine. K2 focused on consulting and product development.

"It became very clear that we had to focus energies on our core strength," Shah said.

Skyscape so far has 10,000 users.

"We believe it is the technology" that has convinced doctors to move from paper to handheld devices, Mathew said. "The other (reason) is the general sense of user acceptance and awareness."

The Dain Rauscher Wessels report on the role of handheld devices in healthcare says that trends driving adoption include the rising cost of health care, greater awareness of medical errors and improving technology.

The ability to eliminate the paperwork, provide real-time access to data and decision support tools will lead to lower costs and better outcomes, the research report predicts.

Dr. Carl Wilson, a pediatric rehabilitation specialist at Franciscan Children's Hospital in Brighton, is already a regular user of Skyscape's system.

Because he often has patients on eight or 10 medications at one time, using his Palm 5X to quickly verify drug interaction is important, he said.

Wilson predicts that once Palm Pilot prices drop, medical students and interns will become customers, paving the way for adoption in more and more hospitals.

"It's convenient not to carry physicians' references around with you," Wilson said. "As far as the medication, it (Skyscape's system) is an excellent resource and makes your life infinitely easier."