To keep doctors apprised of the latest medicines are some advances in technology. Physicians in the Lehigh Valley and elsewhere are testing handheld electronic prescribing devices that give doctors direct links to the Internet and a patient's pharmacy to write prescriptions with a touch of the screen and transmit it to the pharmacist. The devices are expected to eliminate paperwork and phone call delays as well as errors cased by illegible handwriting. Patients can do more to stay well, too, the Heart Association's Smaha said. He would like to see private cholesterol testing machines, similar to blood pressure machines in local pharmacies.
Medicines are part of that spectrum.