Summary UpToDate : Statistics, etc.

Here are selected responses _

 

Dalia Kleinmuntz

Webster Library Director

Dkleinmuntz-YUijvdUTBg0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx      847-470-2664

 

 

Response 1:

  Uptodate gave me a statistics link for my organization.  At the end of
each month, I go in and pull out the stats and chart and graph it for
the Library and Education committee.

 

Response 2:

UTD provides the stat reports.  Ours always went up and I stopped
worrying about them once I realized that, given the choice, the staff
would choose UTD over any other service that we provide to them.

 

Response 3:

Dalia,

Usage statistics are available on a weekly basis, but since we have IP
access they are general stats, not drilled down to specific users. It is
heavily used here. 

 

Response  4:

  All our docs access UpToDate through a physician gateway portal.  My
boss, who is the VP of Information Services, has access to reports and
each month he gives me the UpToDate report, which includes the
physician's name and the number of times he/she accessed UTD during the
month.

 

Response 5:

Our Info Services people couldn't come up with an automatic way to tell
who within our network was using our UpToDate subscription or how many
times they accessed it.  So the web people created a little survey which
must be answered each time someone links to UpToDate via our intranet
link -- users have to respond to "I work mainly at..." by selecting from
three choices (facility group), and "I am...." by selecting from six
choices (resident, medical staff, nurse, etc.).  The stats end up in a
file that I can turn into an Excel sheet and sort.

 

The following contain comments on the program itself and some insight as
to how implementation was/is being handled at some organizations:

 

Response 6:

Hi Dalia,

Yes, there are nice graphic charts and usage data available, monthly. My
sales rep emails them to us, as they become available. I'm sure that the
UpToDate sales person for your area will give you all of this
information, plus packets and brochures to distribute during the trial
period. UpToDate gave us a link to an administrative page that provides
monthly statistics on how many topic reviews were accessed from our
network.

 

This usage data was useful during the trial demo period, to show how
many staff members were trying UpToDate. Since our physicians pay for
the product, the decision to purchase was, ultimately, theirs. So,
during the demo period I requested they fill out a very brief survey
(YES the library should purchase vs. NO the library should not purchase)
and provided that information to the medical staff liaison. They did
decide to purchase.

 

Response 7:

We have UpToDate on our hospital network.  Since UTD charge by number of
admissions and ER visits, our cost for last year was $34,000.  It's a
lot, but we looked at our statistics and found that we had over 38,000
searches on it for that same period of time, so looks like it's worth
the money. We provide the service to our hospital building and to 2
off-site clinics and are always being asked for access at physician
offices via VPN.  We can't afford that so they have to use it while they
are in the building. My biggest concern with UpToDate is that we are a
teaching hospital and the interns/residents tend and attending tend to
look at UTD only instead of trying to look at other resources.  I tell
them it's like only looking at only Harrison's for every question they
have.  I don't think they listen, since UTD is so convenient.  We also
just got FirstConsult (from MDConsult)  I don't like it as well, and the
users don't either, but it is the only way to get at the Saunders
Clinics online, we decided to try their FirstConsult - it is being
advertised as comparable/better that UTD.  I've been asking our folks to
try it when they do a search in UTD, but so far they really haven't
found it to be as easy/useful as their favorite - UTD.  

 

Response 8:

I arranged trials for the doctors of UptoDate, FirstConsult (by
MDConsult) and Ovid's clinical decision support software.  Each of them
is very different.  FirstConsult and Ovid's products are the equivalent
of the spiral books docs carry around--quick outline type information
with links to Medline search software, fulltext journals, electronic
books, etc.  FirstConsult has the capability of being backed by the
review article type info that you find in the Clinics especially if you
add on an electronic subscriptions to them.  

 

Uptodate originated as a board review kind of thing.  It is essays
designed to be authoritative written by "names" in the field (or their
grad students probably).  If the doc finds an essay that answers his
question he LOVES it.  There are at this time no links out to the
articles in the bibliography.  AND, though they are adding areas of
coverage, it doesn't cover everything yet.  Docs love it because it's
like have a review article on the topic.  They can read the article and
feel that they have been brought "UpToDate".  How
evidence-based....well, the company claims that their editors check to
make sure they are evidence-based but they don't rate the articles in
any way so I wouldn't take it to court--- personally.  It's like buying
very expensive textbooks updated electronically.  How quickly the
articles are updated if a new discovery comes out...there was one
question about that from one of my docs who complained that some new
question had come up and the essay had not been updated yet.
Sooo...they aren't updated daily or even weekly but "as needed" and
reviewed on a regular basis.

 

I found Uptodate VERY EXPENSIVE.  Our lawyers and their lawyers have
been arguing about the contract for months and months and have finally
signed.  We're only going to offer access in-house since the price to
offer remote access if outrageously expensive.  Meanwhile we're being
offered other clinical decision support products linked to other systems
for charting and the online medical record.  And all are equally
outrageously expensive.  And, of course, the Medline and electronic
journals and texts the library offers are different from these.  Sigh.
I guess this is like the proverbial "Chinese Curse--may you live in
interesting times".  Certainly interesting options out there.  Joy

 

Dalia Kleinmuntz, M.L.S.,  

Webster Library Director

Evanston Hospital, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare

847-570-2664 (voice)

847-570-2926 (fax)                  Dkleinmuntz-YUijvdUTBg0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Opinions expressed are my own and do not refelct those of ENH.