Federal officials are tapping into hand-held technology in order to develop faster ways of advising doctors and other health professionals during a potential biological or chemical attack.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is conducting a three-month test of ePocrates, a personal digital assistant network for health professionals, to evaluate its use as an alert system for potential bioterrorism or chemical threats. It could also be used to warn health practitioners how to identify or respond to disease outbreaks.

"We're trying to find a way to better communicate with clinicians," said internist John Whyte, project officer for the test, in a telephone interview. "It's a 21^st century method that's more accessible than faxes or e-mails."

"Instead of having to keep all the information on every disease in their heads, clinicians could just carry it with them and pull it up as needed," Whyte said. "It could also helpful in listing a variety of treatment possibilities."

During the numerous of anthrax cases in 2001, for example, government health officials had a tough time alerting physicians that the antibiotic Cipro was not the only drug that could fight the bacterium. Tetracylines such as doxycycline, and some types of penicillin are also effective.

Last week, health officials sent out a "Doc Alert" message on ePocrates announcing the test project. The next test will consist of a targeted message to physicians containing a memorandum on the agents in question, web link for more information on them and contact numbers for health officials.

Lydia Green, an ePocrates spokeswoman, told SPACE.com that health professionals use the network to search through a database of 2,700 prescription medications and access important memos. Weekly updates are available every week via a computer connection, which is how physicians would receive the HHS alerts, she added. A pay service also includes a database on alternative medicine, and an infectious disease application and recommended treatments.

Health officials hope that ePocrates will complement the Health Alert Network currently used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to distribute important of emergency information on dangerous biological or chemical agents to health officials at the nation's state and local levels. Those alerts gradually filter down to individual physicians and clinicians, but the ePocrates link gives the HHS a direct link to health care professionals.

"The system is also capable of targeting specific cities or areas, like New York City for example, if there's a specific concern that clinicians there need to know about," Whyte said.

Even with a handheld device alert system in place, most health professionals will probably first learn about biological or chemical threats from media outlets, be they print, television or online. But media reports can only go so far.

"We're never going to beat the press, but we will be sending out what the [media] is not," he added. "Things like specific diagnoses, medicine dosage requirements and treatments. That's kind of important and we want to get it out."

After the initial three-month test, the health department will analyze the alert system's effectiveness and survey participating clinicians to determine how well it performed and where to make improvements. Health officials also hope to learn how often physicians update their handheld devices for new information, which would determine the ultimate viability of eProcrates as an alert system.

The test is being conducted by the department's Agency of Health Research and Quality (AHRQ), where Whyte also serves as medical director to the Council for Private Sector Initiatives to improve health care security, safety and quality.