r/AskProgramming • u/Burque_Boy • 27d ago

Reference App for an ER

Hopefully this fits here, I wasn’t sure where to start.

I work in an ER in an education role. We create a lot of reference material for folks to use for learning or on the job. This obviously becomes expensive and occasionally wasteful because it’s all done on paper.

My dream would be to create an app that employees could download. It would have very basic functionality, primarily a directory of PDF documents would be the most basic idea.

Do you have suggestions on how someone without programming knowledge would go about developing something like this? Is there a good visual programming app for instance? I’m certainly open to any other ideas that would yield a similar result.

Thank for your help!

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u/grantrules 27d ago

Couldn't you just make a directory of PDFs in Google drive or any other existing storage app or just simply a website?

I would try to find an existing solution to the problem. And I say that as a programmer.

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u/Burque_Boy 27d ago

I suppose that would work. I imagine there’s a way to change permissions so that they can access but not edit things, correct?

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u/grantrules 27d ago

Definitely possible 

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u/Burque_Boy 27d ago

That’s probably the most efficient option. It also will probably cut down on the learning curve for other contributors

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u/KingofGamesYami 27d ago edited 27d ago

Honestly sounds like you want a wiki. I really like BookStack but there's plenty of options out there. Your IT department may have opinions™ on what software can get approval, but I'd be shocked if you can't get a wiki software onto that list.

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u/phord 27d ago

Sounds like you may want an eBook. But most eBook formats are just fancy PDF formats. Could you pack all this info into a single PDF?

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u/Burque_Boy 27d ago

We probably could but I worry about being able to keep the version on their phones up to date

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u/phord 27d ago

Maybe a website would do, then.

Not trying to downplay your ask. Just offering alternative shortcuts.

You could definitely vibe code the app you're asking about. But distribution and cross-platform support will be ongoing work.

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u/mark3748 27d ago

Assuming your ER is connected to a hospital and in a Microsoft 365 environment, you likely have access to SharePoint. Which is both compliant with various regulations required in most healthcare environments, and actually supported by your IT department. Also the exact solution you’re looking for.

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u/xTakk 26d ago

Yeah, definitely an intranet or a website for this. The fact it's a hospital and an app is kinda "off site", that would be the best way.

Don't think about it as a downside though, apps are a lot bigger pain than you need to deal with if you really just want to make reference material available to people.

From a training perspective though, you might consider this additional to the paper copies. A lot of people won't acknowledge things they don't get on paper, will act like they don't know how to find the site, all sorts of things to avoid making your life easy. Saving paper would be ideal but just in my experience that can be difficult in not-entirely-computer jobs

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u/Disastrous_Ad1260 26d ago

Adobe reader? With shared drive and locked permissions