Three best point-of-care tools available

As a type of information resource, BMJ Best Practice, DynaMed, and UpToDate have many names: point-of-care information tools, clinical decision support resources, electronic textbooks, and more. All are interactive electronic resources that provide rapid access to evidence-based, continuously updated information to address clinical problems. Independently practising physicians in British Columbia enjoy no-cost access to these three resources, which have been evaluated as equivalent and excellent in editorial quality, evidence-based methodology, and volume of content.[1]

As noted in the BCMJ,[2] UpToDate is available without cost to specialists irrespective of health authority affiliation courtesy of the Specialist Services Committee. This complements the ongoing access to UpToDate for family practitioners who are members of divisions of family practice and for health authority–affiliated specialists.

DynaMed has recently been determined to provide answers to clinical questions with an accuracy equivalent to UpToDate.[3] BC physicians can access DynaMed online and as an app through the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC Library (www.cpsbc.ca/library).

BMJ Best Practice is also available to BC physicians through the CPSBC Library. Like the other two tools, Best Practice is integrated with a drug information resource, in this case Martindale: the complete drug reference, an evidence-based pharmacopeia unaligned with the pharmaceutical industry.

These high-quality information tools offer BC physicians a choice of preferred platform and the ability to broaden their information sources.
—Karen MacDonell
Director, Library Services

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This article is the opinion of the Library of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC and has not been peer reviewed by the BCMJ Editorial Board.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

References

1.    Kwag KH, González-Lorenzo M, Banzi R, et al. Providing doctors with high-quality information: An updated evaluation of web-based point-of-care information summaries. J Med Internet Res 2016;18:e15.

2.    BC Medical Journal. Community-based specialists: No-cost access to UpToDate. BCMJ 2022;64:10.

3.    Bradley-Ridout G, Nekolaichuk E, Jamieson T, et al. UpToDate versus DynaMed: A cross-sectional study comparing the speed and accuracy of two point-of-care information tools. J Med Libr Assoc 2021;109:382-387.