Lexi-Comp or Epocrates?

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Just trying to guage peoples opinion on which is the better/more useful program as I am trying to decide between the two. Currently using the Epocrates free drug list and flying through the free demos on lexi-comp.

Prices Epocrates $140 for one year
Lexi comp +1yronline $325

Lexi drugs is far more detailed than epocrates however the interface is more intuitive on epocrates with clear headings. Lexi just jump scrolls to each section which kinda annoys me

Lexi has 5MCC included so I would have to shell out 65bucks extra anyway if i went with epocrates to get what seems to be an almost essential program.

Any advice or can anyone suggest a software (doesnt have to be free) program that would be nice to have, already have Ballingers clinical medicine on my pda also.

I would also like to know, because I already have epocrates. However, I would like something as comprehensive as possible regarding DDI and Contraindications... as well as up to date as possible.

I believe Lexi offers a group discount, but would like to know which is preferred.

Doesn't the epocrates essentials have the Dx program that is supposedly resourced from 5MCC?

bump

Originally Posted by SuitsYou

Just trying to guage peoples opinion on which is the better/more useful program as I am trying to decide between the two. Currently using the Epocrates free drug list and flying through the free demos on lexi-comp.

Prices Epocrates $140 for one year
Lexi comp +1yronline $325

Lexi drugs is far more detailed than epocrates however the interface is more intuitive on epocrates with clear headings. Lexi just jump scrolls to each section which kinda annoys me

Lexi has 5MCC included so I would have to shell out 65bucks extra anyway if i went with epocrates to get what seems to be an almost essential program.

Any advice or can anyone suggest a software (doesnt have to be free) program that would be nice to have, already have Ballingers clinical medicine on my pda also.

I don't have any experience with Lexi, but I really like Epocrates. I have heard that Lexi is very nice, but I just don't have the money right now. I would say that if the 5MCC program is so valuable to you, then you should just get Lexi.

I was just interested to also know... What's so great about 5MCC. Isn't Harrison's or Washington Manual or Pocket Cecil's the same thing? And wouldn't you want one of those programs instead of the lesser used 5MCC?

I'm a big Lexi fan, although I agree that Epocrates is very nice software. I'm a pharmacology snob and I demand that my drug refence give me good info (I actually care about good pharmacokinetic information - Lexi consistently lists onset, peak effect, duration, absorption, distribution, protein binding, metabolism, elimination half life, time to peak concentration, and excretion; Epocrates sometimes gives you some of this under "other info"). If I were a user interface (UI) snob I'd prefer Epocrates. But I find the Lexi UI to be very functional once you spend 10 minutes playing with it. Lexi's customer service is also excellent. I've emailed and called them just to see if it's really what they claim, and I've found it to consistently be superb. Not sure about Epocrates.

Just to clarify - the Dx section of Epocrates is the same as that in Lexi - they are both from Griffith's 5 Minute Clinical Consult. And the only difference between those and the Skyscape version is the user interface and the presence of pictures in the Skyscape version (useful in derm).

Check out this thread for some of my previous comments on Lexi vs. Epocrates.

If anybody has specific Lexi questions, I'm happy to answer them since I have Lexi installed on my PDA in front of me (Dell Axim; also used it on my Palm for a long time).

I'm trying to make this decision too.

Lexi clinical suite is $175/yr and includes lexi drugs and 5MCC. I don't know if Lexi-comp has anything that justifies the additional cost.

EDIT: d'oh, didn't realize the original post is ancient

Originally Posted by lord_jeebus

EDIT: d'oh, didn't realize the original post is ancient

no problem, of course!! epocrates suite sounds really nice to me, i just can't believe how much it costs for a mere year of use?! are there any discounts out there if my school/program is NOT interested in doing a discount deal?

Originally Posted by ramonaquimby

no problem, of course!! epocrates suite sounds really nice to me, i just can't believe how much it costs for a mere year of use?! are there any discounts out there if my school/program is NOT interested in doing a discount deal?

If you think ePocrates is expensive, you should look into PEPID. The EM version is really expensive for annual subscriptions. Well worth it though if you're an emergency medicine resident/attending.

I've used both and I would go with Lexi everytime. Its much, much better.

Originally Posted by SuitsYou

Just trying to guage peoples opinion on which is the better/more useful program as I am trying to decide between the two. Currently using the Epocrates free drug list and flying through the free demos on lexi-comp.

Prices Epocrates $140 for one year
Lexi comp +1yronline $325

Lexi drugs is far more detailed than epocrates however the interface is more intuitive on epocrates with clear headings. Lexi just jump scrolls to each section which kinda annoys me

Lexi has 5MCC included so I would have to shell out 65bucks extra anyway if i went with epocrates to get what seems to be an almost essential program.

Any advice or can anyone suggest a software (doesnt have to be free) program that would be nice to have, already have Ballingers clinical medicine on my pda also.

Lexi Drugs by far is a more superior product than epocrates.

However, Lexi Drugs does not cost 325 dollars. It's more in line with the price of ecpocrates. If you purchase Lexi-Complete, that is much more money, but there is also that much more resources available with it. (like 5mcc, interactions handbook, peds, and a glutton of other things)

Lexi complete is well worth the investment.

Just to clarify - Lexi's 5mCC has content identical to that found in the Epocrates Dx section. Only the interface is different.

For a 3rd year, is there a significant advantage to Lexi-complete over the clinical suite? The suite has drugs, interact, lab, calc, and 5mcc. And costs $110 less.

From Lexi.com, with 1-year non-discount prices listed:

Lexi-Complete includes:$285 ($235 for students and residents; see below)

* Lexi-Drugs
* Pediatric Lexi-Drugs
* Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult
* Lexi-Natural Products
* Lexi-Poisoning & Toxicology
* Lexi-Infectious Diseases
* Lexi-Lab & Diagnostic Procedures
* Lexi-Interact
* Dental Lexi-Drugs
* Nursing Lexi-Drugs
* Medical Abbreviations
* Lexi-Pharmacogenomics
* LEXI-PALS Patient Advisory Leaflets
* Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Concise
* Nuclear Biological and Chemical (NBC) Exposure Database
* Lexi-CALC
* Lexi-Companion Guides
* Lexi-I.V. Compatibility
* NEW! Perioperative Nursing Lexi-Drugs
* NEW! Pharmacotherapy Handbook
* Plus - selected Lexi-Comp ON-HAND software databases released during your subscription period.

Lexi-SELECT includes $215 ($165 for students and residents; see below)

* Lexi-Drugs
* Pediatric Lexi-Drugs
* Lexi-Natural Products
* Lexi-Poisoning & Toxicology
* Lexi-Infectious Diseases
* Lexi-Lab & Diagnostic Procedures
* Lexi-Interact
* Dental Lexi-Drugs
* Nursing Lexi-Drugs
* LEXI-PALS Patient Advisory Leaflets
* Nuclear Biological and Chemical (NBCA) Exposure Agents
* Lexi-Pharmacogenomics
* Lexi-Companion Guides
* Lexi-CALC
* Lexi-I.V. Compatibility
* Perioperative Nursing Lexi-Drugs
* PLUS - selected databases added to the Lexi-Comp ON-HAND library during your annual subscription


Lexi-CLINICAL SUITE $175 ($145 for students and residents; see below)
* Lexi-Drugs - rated the most comprehensive and clinically dependable drug information
* Lexi-Interact - our top-ranked interactions program will perform an analysis of a patient's entire drug and natural product profile to identify potential interactions
* Lexi-Lab & Diagnostic Procedures - access information on patient preparation, specimen collection and handling, and clinical test result interpretation within numerous clinical areas and diagnostic disciplines
* Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult - based on the popular print title, Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult (5MCC) contains comprehensive information covering over 1000 medical and surgical conditions.
* Lexi-CALC - Medical calculations, including Body Mass Index, Creatinine Clearance and more

I think Lexi Clinical Suite would be sufficient for most med students most of the time. You won't get (in descending order of importance, IMO) infectious disease (not the end of the world, since 5mCC contains lots of ID stuff), toxicology, peds drugs (though the regular database contains peds dosing IIRC), medical abbreviations, Stedman's dictionary, and a bunch of other databases.

from Lexi

Students, residents, and faculty are eligible for a rebate from the retail pricing of our handheld software. $10 will be taken off the price of the first PDA database subscription, and $5 will be taken off each additional handheld database subscription. For subscriptions to Lexi-Complete, a rebate of up to $50 is also available (combined rebate + other discounts will be capped at $50). Rebates may be collected by mailing or faxing to Lexi-Comp a copy of your valid student or faculty identification. Products will be charged at full price (less any multiproduct purchase discounts) and a credit will be made to your charge card once the valid identification is received.


So if I read that correctly, it's $50 off Lexi-Comp or Lexi-Select, and $30 off Clinical Suite. Prices have been updated above.

From Epocrates

For $149.99/year, you get:
- drug database (part of RxPro)
- formulary info (part of RxPro)
- epocrates ID (part of RxPro)
- herbal info (part of RxPro)
- multi-check (part of RxPro)
- IV compatibility (part of RxPro)
- medical calculators (part of RxPro)
- SxDx
-Epocrates Lab

Originally Posted by Adcadet

From Epocrates

For $149.99/year, you get:
- drug database (part of RxPro)
- formulary info (part of RxPro)
- epocrates ID (part of RxPro)
- herbal info (part of RxPro)
- multi-check (part of RxPro)
- IV compatibility (part of RxPro)
- medical calculators (part of RxPro)
- SxDx
-Epocrates Lab

i wish epocrates could fill my entire screen - 320x480. does lexi fill the whole screen? i know it sounds ridiculous, but which is more pleasing to the eye/easier/more intuitive interface. ie i HATE the way the johns hopkins abx looks..."broken" in my opinion, but it's all i've got, so i use it.

Thanks Adcadet,

I didn't know about the Lexi rebate. I think I'm going to go with Lexi-complete for a year and see what my usage patterns are.

Use code COSGP06 or CMASTU0506 for 50% off epocrates subscriptions. I know for sure the first one works.

Originally Posted by ramonaquimby

i wish epocrates could fill my entire screen - 320x480. does lexi fill the whole screen? i know it sounds ridiculous, but which is more pleasing to the eye/easier/more intuitive interface. ie i HATE the way the johns hopkins abx looks..."broken" in my opinion, but it's all i've got, so i use it.

Well, it depends on device I would imagine (Palm vs PPC and VGA vs. QVGA, etc), but I doubt either can look as bad as the Hopkins Abx guide. I mean really - can they pick a font that doesn't look like its straight out of 1968?

But in general I think the Epocrates UI looks better, but Lexi's UI is functional - it uses the whole screen (practically) to display a monograph. Lexi has a free demo you can use 20 times, and Epocrates has a free version - try them both out and see what looks better on your device.

Also see which one will tell you what you need to know. For example, I've got a guy with a DVT and I want to know when his warfarin will be kicked in (my team doesn't want to wait any longer than we have to) - he came in on Wednesday and started warfarin 5 mg po and heparin, and it's now Friday. Lexi tells me that onset of anticoagulation is 36-72 hours and full therapeutic effect isn't reached until 5-7 days and that INR may increase in 36-72 hours, and that the duration is 2-5 days, and that the elimination half-life is 20-60 hours. Great, now I know that we really shouldn't cut any corners and kick him out this weekend - his anticoagulation likely has begun but that he isn't at full therapeutic effect yet. Epocrates tells me that the half life for the anticoagulant effect is 20-60 hours and that the half-life is highly variable. That's it - Epocrates leaves me hanging about whether or not he's anticoagulated right now and when he's at full effect.

The clear winner in my book is Lexi. It told me what I needed to know.

I just graduated Pharmacy school. I've used Lexi-Comp throughout school, during rotations, and on the job. Epocrates may serve its purpose for medical students because you don't really need all the detailed info, but for pharm, Lexi is better.

No experience with Lexi but I have used Epocrates. I find that the free Medscape app includes all of the Epocrates paid content plus it is better quality. The price is right so I would recommend that folks try it before buying an app.

thread is 6yrs old......