EBSCO Publishing

DynaMed

EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) provides the largest collection of science, technical and medical journals electronically and is the largest provider of all electronic journals used for research in the world. Most medical reference information is opinion-based and/or based on incomplete or inaccurate evaluation of scientific knowledge; therefore, evidence-based medicine is an attempt to completely and accurately synthesize clinical research to produce medical knowledge.

DynaMed, which was acquired by EBSCO in 2005, is an evidence-based clinical reference tool updated daily and designed primarily for use by health care professionals at the point of care. By utilizing “systematic literature surveillance” as an evidence-based method for keeping current with medical research and analyzing, Dynamed summarizes and synthesizes evidence for rapid interpretation at the point of care. This approach is necessary in order to provide the most current valid information to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care.

DynaMed is the flagship product in a line of evidence-based tools that also addresses the needs of nurses and rehabilitation professionals through the Nursing Reference Center™ and Rehabilitation Reference Center™. A fourth resource, Patient Education Reference Center™ uses evidence-based patient education content to allow hospitals to better inform patients at discharge and provides patients with easy to understand information about their condition and follow up requirements.

Results

• In 2004 the National Science Foundation awarded DynaMed LLC a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to test the feasibility of using DynaMed to provide Rapid Access to Valid Clinical Knowledge. A randomized trial established that primary care clinicians using DynaMed answered more of their own questions, found more answers that changed their clinical decisions, and the answers in DynaMed provided more valid information than a collection of leading resources that were otherwise available to clinicians.
• 43,787 articles were reviewed in 2008, and 14,752 articles were considered relevant for the point of care and included in DynaMed.
• Used in more than 25 countries and all 50 U.S. states, DynaMed includes over 3,000 topics and is updated multiple times per day.
• Used by leading medical schools, major medical centers and hospitals, physician practices and others in the healthcare industry.

***Submitted by Donald P. Doak, Vice President, Corporate, Federal & Partnership Sales, EBSCO Publishing, ddoak@ebscohost.com.

Published: January 26, 2009