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:
- Access BMJ Best Practice via the library’s Databases A-Z page.
- Create a BMJ Best Practice personal account through the pop-up box – “Create your FREE personal account in one step”.
- Download and install the app from the App Store or from Google Play.
- 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
TDS Health hosts a variety of resources relevant to various health care disciplines, including STAT!Ref Titles. TDS Health provides:
Accessing TDS Health
From Library Services' homepage, select Search Sources in the top navigation bar. From the dropdown menu, select Databases. Select T, then TDS Health (formerly STAT!Ref).
Accessing STAT!Ref Titles
You can find a list of all the titles offered via STAT!Ref by selecting the STAT!Ref panel on the TDS Health homepage.
Searching tips
TDS Health’s search bar allows you to search within the full text of all available titles. To help you search better:
Filtering search results
On the search results page, under FILTER BY on the left, you can filter your results.
Viewing an eBook
When viewing an ebook on TDS Health, the Table of Contents is always on the left-hand side for easy navigation between sections. In-text citations appear as superscript numbers; you can click on each number to find the full citation in the reference section.
At the top of the full text, the Tables and Figures tabs provide summaries of all the tables and figures used within the current section.
To search within the current book, click on the dropdown menu to the left of the search bar at the top of the page and select Current Title, then run your search.
TDS Health will highlight all the matching keywords within the text. To navigate between the highlighted keywords, use the Match arrows
at the top of the full text.
The Result arrows
let you navigate between all the results from the search results page.
Using Stedman’s Medical Dictionary
Stedman’s Medical Dictionary provides definitions for medical terms, abbreviations, acronyms, measurements, and more. It is offered through TDS Health and is also embedded into all the other titles on TDS Health.
To define a word within the text, simply highlight the word. A pop-up will appear with a dictionary definition as well as an audio pronunciation.
Getting the TDS Health Mobile App
If you would like to view the titles offered through TDS Health on your mobile phone, you can follow this link to the Mobile Apps and Resources subject guide for more information.
If you have questions about using STAT!Ref through TDS Health, reach out to us at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca or book a one-on-one consultation with a Library Services team member for help using this and other library resources.
Vinson Li
Librarian Educator
Yarmouth Regional Hospital, Western Zone