Meeting the information needs of busy physicians at the point of care is an important challenge in medicine. Finding the best evidence to answer clinical questions is one of the basic steps in evidence-based medicine (EBM) practice [1]. To be most effective, the practice of EBM must occur in real-time at the point of patient care because physicians almost never seek answers to clinical questions after the clinical session ends [2,3]. Furthermore, medical residents answering patient-specific questions reported improvement in knowledge and changes in patient care decisions [4].
The Internet has had a major impact on physicians' practice by improving their access to medical information resources. Clinicians frequently use online evidence primarily to support clinical decisions related to direct patient care [5]. Physicians' use of the Internet and PDAs is growing [6-8], with 60% to 70% of medical students and residents using PDAs for educational purposes and patient care in 2006 [9]. However, in clinical practice there may be limited availability of desktop computers, Internet access or wireless networks. Wireless networks that allow ubiquitous access to online information through portable mobile devices are now common in major academic medical centers, six percent of the US hospitals in 2000 [10]. However, they may not be available in many community hospitals and ambulatory clinics where the majority of physicians practice. The American Hospital Association reported that community hospitals represented 85% of the total number of hospitals in the U.S in 2004 [11].
Smart phones – new hybrid devices that combine the communication capabilities of mobile phones with easy and fast access to the Web and computing features of PDAs – may be an effective way to provide real-time access to online medical knowledge resources at the bedside. We were unable to find studies on this type of utilization of smart phones, so we implemented a wireless Internet access project to evaluate the feasibility of using smart phones as an alternative to reach online medical resources for information retrieval during clinical and academic activities in a community hospital. In addition, we wanted to learn what Web-based information resources internal medicine residents were using before the study, if there were any differences in the group related to the level of training, and whether providing bedside, real-time access to medical information would be perceived useful for patient care and academic activities.
Answers to all your Biology Questions
