Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information for healthcare professionals and students, announced today that Tampa General Hospital has finalized integration of UpToDate into its Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system and deployment of UpToDate Anywhere. As a result, affiliated physicians and residents can access trusted, evidence-based clinical information and treatment recommendations at the point of care and beyond via their EMR and mobile devices.
“By integrating UpToDate into our EMR, physicians can quickly access the evidence-based information they need to answer clinical questions and support care decisions with a single login and from within a single application,” said Janet McNeal, Medical Informatics Specialist at Tampa General Hospital.
Tampa General Hospital (TGH), one of the largest hospitals in Florida, is a nationally recognized 1,018-bed academic medical center on Florida’s west coast and the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. It serves a population of more than 4 million and is the region’s only center for Level l trauma, comprehensive burn care and adult solid organ transplants.
Accessing UpToDate within the Epic EMR is facilitated by a text search link prominently located at the top of the screen, which takes physicians immediately to the most current and authoritative clinical information available on more than 10,000 topics in 21 medical specialties. An HL7 Infobutton further streamlines point of care decision-making by providing context-sensitive UpToDate search results directly from the patient’s Problem List with just a single mouse click.
TGH feels that integration of UpToDate within their EMR is an important component of their long-term strategic commitment to excellence in health information technology. This commitment led to the prestigious EMRAM Stage 7 designation, which the Health Information and Management System Society (HIMSS) awarded to TGH in December 2013. Stage 7 reflects TGH’s achievement of the final level of a multi-tiered process that measures a hospital’s implementation and utilization of information technology applications. The designation represents the most advanced patient record environment and has been achieved by just 3.1 percent of U.S. Hospitals.
To further expand the reach of the world’s most trusted clinical decision support resource, TGH deployed UpToDate Anywhere to give its 1,500 physicians and residents access to UpToDate via an award-winning mobile app for iOS, Android and Windows. UpToDate Anywhere also enables TGH physicians to earn CME credit while using UpToDate to research clinical questions.
Within a few months of extending access to mobile devices, TGH has nearly doubled UpToDate usage. Currently, clinicians are accessing UpToDate thousands of times a week, most often to search specialty topics and drug information as well as to utilize the specialty-specific clinical calculators.
“Physicians appreciate how UpToDate Anywhere ensures they always have access to the information they need to practice evidence-based medicine. Using the mobile app, they can look up answers to their clinical questions immediately rather than having to find a computer between patients,” said McNeal “It is also a great learning tool for our residents, providing solid evidence-based references whenever they are needed to support care decisions.”
Adoption and satisfaction with UpToDate is high among TGH clinicians. When surveyed, 100 percent of respondents indicated they believed UpToDate improves patient care and safety, changes patient management decisions, increases efficiency and helps to save lives.
“Tampa General Hospital’s experiences echo those at other healthcare organizations that have embedded UpToDate into the clinical workflow through EMR integration and mobile access. That is why we remain committed to working with EMR providers to embed UpToDate into their systems, so that clinicians have quick, convenient access to answers that improve patient care,” said Denise Basow, MD, Vice President/General Manager, UpToDate at Wolters Kluwer Health, Clinical Solutions.
About Wolters Kluwer Health
Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading global provider of information, business intelligence and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry. Serving more than 150 countries worldwide, clinicians rely on Wolters Kluwer Health’s market leading information-enabled tools and software solutions throughout their professional careers from training to research to practice. Major brands include Health Language, Lexicomp, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Medicom, Medi-Span, Medknow, Ovid, Pharmacy OneSource, ProVation Medical and UpToDate.
Wolters Kluwer Health is part of Wolters Kluwer, a market-leading global information services company. Wolters Kluwer had 2013 annual revenues of €3.6 billion (US$4.7 billion), employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide, and maintains operations in over 40 countries across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. Follow our official Twitter handle: @WKHealth.
