Over the next three months, ePocrates announced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is testing a bioterrorism alert system for PDAs that transmits urgent information about biological agents to clinicians.

Participation in the HHS bioterrorism pilot requires that a clinician has an ACTIVE version of ePocrates Rx Pro or ePocrates Rx on a Palm OS device and is currently receiving DocAlert messages.

According to HHS and ePocrates, the test of the PDA network is designed to gauge the best ways for federal officials to communicate with front-line clinicians in the event of a bioterrorist attack.

The test message is slated to contain a special memo on the highest threat (category A) biological diseases/agents, which include anthrax, botulism, plague, smallpox, tularemia, and viral hemorrhagic fevers, including Ebola, as well as links for clinicians to go to for additional information about diagnosing and treating the conditions caused by the biological agents.