Why More and More Health Systems are Transitioning to Digital/Virtual Medical Libraries

What are Digital Medical Libraries?

In the modern age, technology is incredibly commonplace; it takes a good amount of effort to go somewhere and not see cell phones or computers, as all the world’s information is available from one internet search. This is the case even for medical information.

Vital information that is important to be researched for patient outcomes, can all be found online. With online versions of almost every book title and research article you can think of, all of the world’s information is just at our fingertips.

Digital medical libraries utilize the massive amount of information available on the web and organize it into one spot. With a digital library service, there is often a medical librarian that assists the physician and team with locating medical research and information.

The Role of Medical Librarians in Digital Libraries

Medical librarians help health systems improve patient outcomes by providing access to focused, reliable information that supports the implementation of practical care. Additionally, medical librarians help achieve a higher quality of care, reduced cost of care, and improvement of the health of the population.

They save valuable clinician time and provide evidence to support data-driven improvement. In instances where medical librarians accompany doctors and medical professionals it makes diagnoses faster and easier.

Benefits of Medical Librarians

A study conducted by Alison Brettle, et. All., found that 39% of users of clinical librarian services reported a positive impact on the quality of patient care. Another study done by Joanne Gard Marshall, PhD., AHIP., FMLA, et. al., also found that 85% of respondents reported that the information that was provided by the medical librarian and their services saved them time. This is supported by Jessie McGowan, et. Al., in a 2008 study, finding that medical librarians can answer medical questions on average, 6.61 minutes faster than healthcare professionals. Each literature search provided by a medical librarian can contribute to multiple opportunities of importance to the healthcare organization.

Interrelated methods of evaluation illustrate the wide range of impact and the nature of how these are made. Future use of these tools will help build a significant and comprehensive international evidence base on the effectiveness and impact of health library services. These benefits are vital to any organization as many digital libraries offer an on call 24/7 research assistant to be available whenever the need arises.

Benefits of Digital Medical Libraries Versus Traditional

Hospitals have long used traditional brick and mortar libraries to house all their medical information—rows and rows of books and research barely organized. It could take hours just to find the information you are looking for. No matter how organized your healthcare institution’s library is, there is no fast way to access the exact information you need.

An online library is just one search away from all the information you could ever need. This can save physicians valuable hours and improve patient outcomes greatly. To build a medical library it takes time and money to compile research, books, articles and to keep them all up to date. A digital library compiles all the same information as a traditional library, but is more affordable, saves space, and saves time.

Connect with MyHPCLibrarian™ Today!

If your organization is looking make the switch from a traditional library to a digital one, there are cost-effective solutions that can help you like MyHPCLibrarian™ services offered by HPC International, Inc. ™ To learn more about medical librarian support services, check out MyHPCLibrarian™ service.