UpToDate Success Story: St. Luke's International Hospital

Anytime, anywhere access

"Time pressures are a major problem for physicians," explained Dr. Yasuhiro Komatsu, Vice President of St. Luke's International Hospital. "This is true for both medical trainees and senior staff. UpToDate Anywhere offers busy clinicians fast access to valuable and trusted information, leading to better quality patient care."

UpToDate is available on every computer in St. Luke's International Hospital system and is now accessible via mobile apps. Clinicians at all levels make diagnoses and treatment decisions with confidence because they trust the information in UpToDate is based on current evidence and internationally accepted best practices.

According to Librarian Fujimi Kawai, "Access to UpToDate via mobile devices has proven to be very popular." In fact, St. Luke's observed a 15% increase in overall UpToDate use since providing mobile access.

Clinicians at St. Luke's International Hospital view nearly 3,000 UpToDate topics every month. In 2015, the top five clinical topics viewed in UpToDate were:

• Treatment and prevention of Pneumocystis pneumonia in non-HIV-infected patients
• Cellulitis and erysipelas
• Approach to the patient with unexplained eosinophilia
• Rapidly growing mycobacterial infections in HIV-negative patients
• Evaluation of peripheral lymphadenopathy in adults

"As physicians and residents increasingly travel between affiliated sites, UpToDate Anywhere makes it even easier for the busy clinician to access important information for patient care or case presentation while on the go," explains Dr. Gautam Deshpande, Clinical Educator at St. Luke's International Hospital.

Providing quality care for an aging population

Like many other countries, Japan is dealing with an aging population. In 2014, 26% of Japan's population was 65 or older. Treating an older population requires physicians to be knowledgeable about multiple conditions, often spanning several medical specialties.

"My specialty is rheumatology, but I see patients on a daily basis with hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other issues," explains Dr. Mitsumasa Kishimoto, at St. Luke's Immuno-Rheumatology Center. "UpToDate is particularly beneficial in staying current in fields outside my specialty."

"With such a high incidence of comorbidities, drug interactions are also a serious concern," said Dr. Kishimoto. "I frequently consult drug interactions in UpToDate to minimize risk and increase patient safety." Through its integration with Lexicomp®, a clinical drug information resource also from Wolters Kluwer, UpToDate provides users with access to a drug interactions database and more than 5,600 in-depth drug monographs.

UpToDate officially launched Geriatrics as a specialty in 2011. Since then, the content has grown to contain over 330 topics written specifically for treating aging patients.

Comprehensive, trusted content

"UpToDate is so comprehensive that it has become a staple in most, if not all, clinical and medical education conferences that I have facilitated over the last several years – not only at my institution, but also at hospitals throughout Japan," said Dr. Deshpande.

More than 1.1 million clinicians around the world trust UpToDate because of the expertise of the authors and editors who create and manage the clinical content. "If I do a search in Google I can get a quick answer – but 60% of the time it won't be evidence-based. It's not reliable. UpToDate is written by physicians who are all experts in their fields," explained Dr. Kishimoto.

In addition to providing comprehensive coverage across 23 medical specialties, UpToDate also provides graphics, medical calculators, and patient information to help clinicians provide the highest quality care. "I use the patient information to help me explain conditions and the accompanying treatment recommendations – this can be particularly helpful when working with international patients," explained Dr. Kishimoto.

"For our residents, the figures, tables and other information included in UpToDate are very helpful in generating differential diagnoses, particularly in the emergency room setting or in complex cases," said Dr. Kishimoto. "Through photos and concise recommendations, UpToDate gives physicians and medical students highly reliable, current information for arriving at an evidence-based diagnosis and treatment plan."

Clinician satisfaction

"Our clinicians are very satisfied with UpToDate Anywhere, because it provides continuous, consistent access to the best and latest medical knowledge, no matter where they are located," said Dr. Komatsu. "Our younger doctors, in particular, appreciate the convenience of accessing UpToDate via their smartphones and tablets when they are on the go."

Ms. Kawai added, "Physicians who leave St. Luke's often push their new institutions to adopt UpToDate – they value it that much."

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1. Isaac T, Zheng J, Jha A. Use of UpToDate and outcomes in US hospitals. J Hosp Med. 2011 Nov 16. doi: 10.1002/jhm.944.</sup>