![]() Here, to help busy clinicians choose which point-of-care resources to use, we review several of the most popular ones, examining their ease of use, key elements, strengths, and weaknesses. To complement this strategy and weed out erroneous information, physicians need reliable sources of unbiased information to efficiently answer clinical questions at the point of care. In an earlier article, 5 we advocated a proactive approach to managing information, highlighting ways to scan for new information and to develop habits of extracting useful information that can then be stored and easily recovered. Researchers estimate that up to 70% of clinicians may use Wikipedia to research medical questions, and a comparison of 10 Wikipedia articles vs peer-reviewed sources on the 10 most costly diseases found that 9 of the 10 Wikipedia articles had errors. Not all of these resources are of high quality, with reliable factual information. These tools-online textbooks, decision guides embedded within electronic health record systems, or even a Google search-are termed “point-of-care” resources when used at the time of patient care for decision-making in the moment. 2 Further, even online textbooks are currently more dense than the online resources that we review here.ĭifferent types of resources can help task-saturated healthcare providers stay aware of new information while delivering evidence-based care. While researching information in textbooks won’t drain a phone battery, carrying a textbook around is not feasible, and many textbooks (including their electronic versions) contain information that is outdated before they go to print or that is quickly outdated thereafter. Though some of these challenges are due to technology, one solution is to use technology to our advantage. 1 They have to do this while seeing more patients with more chronic problems in less time and while meeting reporting requirements for meaningful use or quality measures for accountable care organizations. Physicians need to keep up with an ever-increasing stream of information-new guidelines, new medications, and updates in medical literature. Her question for you centers on the role of antibiotic prophylaxis and Lyme disease prevention. She had been hiking several times over the last week and is not certain when the tick bite occurred. She successfully removed the tick but has not brought the tick with her to the appointment. Connecticut, is an active hiker who has had Lyme disease previously. I t is friday afternoon on a sunny July day. Physicians should familiarize themselves with these resources and use the ones that best suit their needs. For example, UpToDate offers the most topics, but its articles tend to be too long to be practical to read at the point of care. The resources reviewed in this article require paid subscriptions except for Medscape, which is supported by advertising.Įach of the resources has strengths and weaknesses. Today, it seems impossible to keep up with all the information we need, but we can refine our skills in accessing, sorting, and interpreting accurate scientific evidence. ![]()
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