One again, Epocrates tops the list as the most popular app for physicians, according to Manahattan Research's Taking the Pulse 2013 survey results. Of the 2,950 physicians surveyed, Epocrates was used by 70 percent of physicians via their smartphones and 50 percent via tablet devices.

Epocrates, which was acquired by athenahealth in January, provides physicians with a range of medical reference apps, especially pulling from its drug information databases. Although athena's Epocrates acquisition was announced round the same time Manhattan Research was conducting its physician survey, any resulting fallout or boom because of that deal won't likely be apparent until next year's poll.

"We are confident that we can provide Epocrates with the stewardship and resources it needs to grow and develop within health care, and that Epocrates’ capabilities are going to mesh exceptionally well with athenahealth’s cloud-based physician and patient services," athena CEO Jonathan Bush said earlier this year. "Together, we’re excited by the opportunity to redefine the mobile toolset for care givers."

Other Epocrates apps include, but are not limited to Anatomy on the Go, an interactive app exploring human anatomy; Cadiology Tool, which performs cardiology calculations; and Pocket Medical French or Spanish with over 400 visual, text and audio pronunciations of key questions. Only the Rx and Essentials apps are available for Android or BlackBerry users.

That same Manhattan Research study also asked physicians how they felt about self-tracking patients, to which 75 percent answered positively, agreeing that this practice leads to better patient outcomes. Already, 7 of 10 patients in the study are self-tracking. The survey also found that 72 percent of US physicians now have tablets.