Effectiveness of clinician-selected electronic information resources for answering primary care physicians' information needs
- PMID: 16929042
- PMCID: PMC1656967
- DOI: 10.1197/jamia.M2087
Effectiveness of clinician-selected electronic information resources for answering primary care physicians' information needs
Abstract
Objective: To determine if clinician-selected electronic information resources improve primary care physicians' abilities to answer simulated clinical questions.
Design: Observational study using hour-long interviews in physician offices and think-aloud protocols.
Participants: answered 23 multiple-choice questions and chose 2 to obtain further information using their own information resources. We established which resources physicians chose, processes used, and results obtained when looking for information to support their answers.
Measurements: Correctness of answers before and after searching, resources used, and searching techniques.
Results: 23 physicians sought answers to 46 questions using their own information resources. They spent a mean of 13.0 (SD 5.5) minutes searching for information for the two questions using an average of 1.8 resources per question and a wide variety of searching techniques. On average 43.5% of the answers to the original 23 questions were correct. For the questions that were searched, 18 (39.1%) of the 46 answers were correct before searching. After searching, the number of correct answers was 19 (42.1%). This difference of 1 correct answer was attributed to 6 questions (13.0%) going from an incorrect to correct answer and 5 (10.9%) questions going from a correct to incorrect answer. We found differences in the ability of various resources to provide correct answers.
Conclusion: For the primary care physicians studied, electronic information resources of choice did not always provide support for finding correct answers to simulated clinical questions and in some instances, individual resources may have contributed to an initially correct answer becoming incorrect.
Similar articles
-
How to find answers to clinical questions.Am Fam Physician. 2009 Feb 15;79(4):293-6. Am Fam Physician. 2009. PMID: 19235495 Review.
-
How primary care physicians' attitudes toward risk and uncertainty affect their use of electronic information resources.J Med Libr Assoc. 2007 Apr;95(2):138-46, e49-50. doi: 10.3163/1536-5050.95.2.138. J Med Libr Assoc. 2007. PMID: 17443246 Free PMC article.
-
How do primary care physicians seek answers to clinical questions? A literature review.J Med Libr Assoc. 2006 Jan;94(1):55-60. J Med Libr Assoc. 2006. PMID: 16404470 Free PMC article. Review.
-
The impact of an online evidence system on confidence in decision making in a controlled setting.Med Decis Making. 2005 Mar-Apr;25(2):178-85. doi: 10.1177/0272989X05275155. Med Decis Making. 2005. PMID: 15800302
-
Answering family physicians' clinical questions using electronic medical databases.J Fam Pract. 2001 Nov;50(11):960-5. J Fam Pract. 2001. PMID: 11711012
Cited by
-
Modelling of physicians' clinical information-seeking behaviour in Iran: a grounded theory study.BMJ Open. 2024 Apr 16;14(4):e080602. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-080602. BMJ Open. 2024. PMID: 38626973 Free PMC article.
-
Why are they not accessing it? User barriers to clinical information access.J Med Libr Assoc. 2021 Jan 1;109(1):126-132. doi: 10.5195/jmla.2021.1051. J Med Libr Assoc. 2021. PMID: 33424474 Free PMC article.
-
Physiotherapists' Use of Web-Based Information Resources to Fulfill Their Information Needs During a Theoretical Examination: Randomized Crossover Trial.J Med Internet Res. 2020 Dec 17;22(12):e19747. doi: 10.2196/19747. J Med Internet Res. 2020. PMID: 33331826 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
-
Impact of a Search Engine on Clinical Decisions Under Time and System Effectiveness Constraints: Research Protocol.JMIR Res Protoc. 2019 May 28;8(5):e12803. doi: 10.2196/12803. JMIR Res Protoc. 2019. PMID: 31140437 Free PMC article.
-
Exploring How Evidence is Used in Care Through an Organizational Ethnography of Two Teaching Hospitals.J Med Internet Res. 2019 Mar 28;21(3):e10769. doi: 10.2196/10769. J Med Internet Res. 2019. PMID: 30920371 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Dawes M, Sampson U. Knowledge management in clinical practice: a systematic review of information seeking behavior in physicians Int J Med Inform 2003;71(1):9-15. - PubMed
-
- National Institute of Clinical Studies Information Finding and Assessment Methods that Different Groups of Clinicians Find Most Useful. Melbourne, Australia: NICS; 2003. Prepared by the Centre for Clinical Effectiveness.
-
- Westbrook JI, Gosling AS, Coirea WE. The impact of an online evidence system on confidence in decision making in a controlled setting Med Decis Making 2005;25(2):178-185. - PubMed
-
- Lindberg D, Siegel E, Rapp B, Wallingford K, Wilson S. Use of MEDLINE by physicians for clinical problem solving JAMA 1993;269(24):3124-3129. - PubMed
-
- Haynes RB, Johnson M, McKibbon KA, Walker C, Willan A. A program to enhance clinical use of MEDLINE Curr Clin Trials 1993:544-546. - PubMed
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources