Professional Benefits: I started working as a nurse practitioner in 2004. Back then I had a PDA or personal digital assistant. I would plug my PDA into my desktop computer and download medical books and professional databases to help me care for my patients without lugging around medical books. As the technology advanced over the years, my smart phone replaced my PDA and it is truly remarkable what tools I have at my disposal to provide the most relevant and up to date medical care. I am also able to renew my professional licenses and certifications online, complete continuing education and look for employment. Electronic medical records have phased out paper charts. Electronic records are secure and can be shared between clinics or hospitals with the patient’s authorization. In the ongoing opioid crisis, pharmacies report what controlled substances patients have been prescribed and dispensed. This enables the patient’s provider to keep track of the controlled substances the patient is using and to ascertain that they are not receiving duplicate prescriptions from other clinics.