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Create customized treatment plans for the whole patient using the Comorbidities Manager on the BMJ Best Practice App

The results are in: Nova Scotia Health staff and physicians are making great use of the BMJ Best Practice Comorbidities point-of-care tool!

Did you know you can access the same content, including the Comorbidities Manager, on the BMJ Best Practice app

BMJ Best Practice, including the Comorbidities Manager, is available 24/7 to support health care providers with making informed clinical decisions.

In the first 12 months after launching the BMJ Comorbidities Manager add-on at Nova Scotia Health:

• Use of the BMJ Best Practice database increased by 150%
• Views of the treatment management section increased by an average of 73%
• 40% of the top ten most-used topics fall within the Comorbidities section

The BMJ Comorbidities Manager allows health care providers to treat the whole patient using a patient’s comorbidities to inform a more tailored treatment plan. This tool is integrated into BMJ Best Practice and is the only clinical decision support tool of its kind (BMJ Best Practice, 2023).

Usage statistics show that at Nova Scotia Health, sessions on the app have increased by 40% since 2021. Having access to the Comorbidities Manager on the go means you have access to clinical decision support anytime, anywhere!

BMJ Best Practice App Benefits

• The ability to tailor treatment plans with the Comorbidities Manager
• Access more than 1,000 conditions summaries offline. Clinical decision support is available on your mobile device even when you are not connected to your network and do not have access to the Internet
• Access over 200 interactive medical calculators
• Automatic tracking of your activity for CME/CPD purposes

BMJ Best Practice, 2023

How to Get the App

Downloading the app is quick and easy. It only uses minimal storage on your device. You must have a personal account in order to use the app. To create an account:

1. Access BMJ Best Practice via the library’s Databases A-Z page.
2. Create a BMJ Best Practice personal account through the pop-up box – “Create your FREE personal account in one step”.
3. Download and install the app from the App Store or from Google Play.
4. Select "Log in" and enter your BMJ Best Practice personal account details to sign in.

Visit Library Services’ Mobile Apps & Resources guide for more information.

Using the Comorbidities Manager on the app

Let’s look at how you could use the Comorbidities Manager in the following clinical scenario:

An 80-year-old man presents at the emergency department with acute exacerbation of COPD. You learn from his family that he also has depression and diabetes. You need to quickly decide how to best treat his acute condition while considering his pre-existing conditions.

Search for ‘acute exacerbation of COPD’ by typing it into the search bar (1). On the app, predictive text is enabled when searching for conditions.

Under Management (2) select Treatment algorithm (3).

A pop-up box will appear to add your patient’s comorbidities. Check the boxes for both Diabetes and Depression (4) and select Show Treatment Algorithm (5).

Options that are affected or added because of the patient’s comorbidities will be indicated by the Comorbidities icon  (6). Click on each treatment option for further details (7).

NOTE Not all conditions will include the ability to add comorbidities.

For more information about using the BMJ Best Practice Comorbidities Manager on the app or the desktop version, book a consultation with a library team member, or email us at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca.

References

1. BMJ Publishing Group Limited. (2023). Comorbidities: Treat the whole patient. BMJ Best Practice. https://bestpractice.bmj.com/info/comorbidities.

2. BMJ Publishing Group Limited.(2023). Free access to our award-winning app for BMJ Best Practice users. BMJ Best Practice. https://bestpractice.bmj.com/info/us/download-the-app/

Amanda Andrews

Librarian Educator, Education & Training Lead
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Eastern Zone