Healthcare information provider Wolters Kluwer has announced the launch of UpToDate® Anywhere in South Africa. UpToDate Anywhere enables South African hospitals and healthcare organisations to provide clinicians with mobile access to UpToDate, the acclaimed evidence-based clinical decision support resource. Clinician usage of UpToDate nationwide is expected to steadily increase as mobile access becomes available in the country's healthcare institutions.
Since 2003, doctors, hospitals, and health organisations throughout South Africa have turned to UpToDate for current, evidence-based clinical answers and recommendations for diagnosis and treatment. Clinicians in South Africa who use UpToDate span a range of nearly 30 specialties, from Allergy to Urology. Organisations that rely on UpToDate to provide high-quality care include a provincial health department, cancer centers, as well as many medical schools tasked with training the next generation of South African doctors including Stellenbosch University, University of Pretoria, University of the Witwatersrand and others.
Access to UpToDate on smartphones and tablets helps South African clinicians improve the quality and effectiveness of the care they provide to patients at the bedside, in a consulting room, counselling room, or when working remotely. Ranked first among 'The best medical apps for your new iPhone' by iMedicalApps, the app is available in iOS, Android™ and Windows 8 mobile platforms.
With UpToDate Anywhere, South African hospital and healthcare system CMIOs can also opt to embed UpToDate in their electronic medical record systems such as Allscripts, Cerner, Epic, MEDITECH, Siemens, and others. This allows clinicians to search UpToDate more efficiently, with fewer clicks and without additional windows or logins.
UpToDate has become a trustworthy resource for answering clinical questions in healthcare institutions. According to the 2014 UpToDate Subscriber Survey, 92 percent of South African respondents say they use UpToDate regularly and 97 percent indicate they are satisfied or very satisfied with UpToDate. In 2014, South African clinicians viewed over 600,000 topics in UpToDate.
UpToDate has a positive impact on medical education not only for medical students and junior doctors, but also in continuing professional development (CPD). Interactive learning that is sequenced or reinforced in multiple sessions improves retention and has the potential to improve quality of care. UpToDate has emerged as a key resource for on-the-job continuing professional development (CPD) for senior clinicians.
Clinical decision support resources like UpToDate Anywhere are playing an increasingly important role in the continuing professional development process. In South Africa, clinicians are using UpToDate as a pain-free CPD resource. Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) Credits earned while using UpToDate may be used toward the HPSCA's Continuing Professional Development program. Each UpToDate learning cycle accumulates 0.5 credits and may be recorded as 0.5 Level 2 CEU in one's Individual Activity Record (without a limit on the number of credits earned using UpToDate).
Real-time research using UpToDate at the point of care can contribute significantly to CPD while also delivering improved quality of care and outcomes. Mobile access through UpToDate Anywhere ensures doctors can take a patient-focused approach to CPD.
