FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 27, 1999
For more information, contact:
Mike Plotnick
314/290-2014
[email protected]
MD Consult Contributes to Relief Efforts in Turkey and Kosovo
Through Donation of Online Subscriptions to Physicians
___________
Company forges partnerships with three leading physician relief groups
ST. LOUIS -- Virtual medical libraries have invaded Kosovo and Turkey, as physician relief groups working in and near these regions are using the Internet to tap into MD Consult, the world's most comprehensive full-text clinical information service.
MD Consult has donated 100 subscriptions to International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee and Northwest Medical Teams International, relief groups that are actively working to save lives in both regions.
Physicians in Turkey and Kosovo must confront daunting challenges. Faced with everything from land mine injuries and malnutrition to cholera and a range of ongoing medical issues, physicians need access to authoritative medical reference materials.
"With just one click, a medical volunteer serving a homeless person at a tent city in Turkey can access the same reference materials utilized at U.S. medical schools," says Bas Vanderzalm, President of Portland-based Northwest Medical Teams International. "Amid all this misery, MD Consult's technology can give these men and women hope."
Created through a joint venture of leading medical publishers, MD Consult is a web-based clinical information service that provides unlimited access to full-text clinical content from a comprehensive range of sources. MD Consult serves physician subscribers throughout the U.S. and in more than 70 countries. The service is currently licensed by more than 300 hospitals, medical schools, health systems and other health care organizations, including more than half of the nation's medical schools. MD Consult currently serves more than 60,000 users.
Yet, how can an Internet site possibly benefit people without shelter, running water or working telephones? It's a good question, but many relief organizations already have the answer.
"Technology has advanced so much since our organization was founded. I can remember being in the field barely able to find a land line to phone our office in the states," recounted Nancy Aossey, President and CEO of Los Angeles-based International Medical Corps. "A service like MD Consult really allows our medical relief workers to remain connected to the medical community while working out in the field."
Technology-savvy groups like International Medical Corps and New York-based International Rescue Committee often arrive in needy nations already equipped with everything from laptops to satellite telephones.
"Several years ago, using the Internet in these sorts of situations would have seemed like an impossible dream," says Dr. Richard Brennan, Director of the IRC's Health Resources Team. "But today, we are finding more and more opportunities to use
the Internet to acquire and share information."
For MD Consult, these advances mean one thing: the chance to use the web to make a world of difference.
"With MD Consult, physicians can efficiently retrieve medical information from a comprehensive range of trusted resources," says Jerry Freeland, president of MD Consult. "We're committed to bringing our cutting-edge clinical content not only to leading hospitals and medical centers, but also to remote areas of the world, like Kosovo and Turkey, where the need for reliable and up-to-date information is just as demanding,"
Physicians using MD Consult will have access to a wealth of information, including:
More than 35 medical reference books, including Bennett's Cecil Textbook of Medicine; Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine; Rosen's Emergency Medicine Concepts and Clinical Practice; and Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics.
Full-text articles from nearly 50 medical journals and Clinics, including the American Heart Journal, The Journal of Pediatrics and Critical Care Medicine.
More than 600 Clinical Practice Guidelines contributed by more than 50 medical societies and government agencies.
More than 2,600 patient education handouts that can be customized by the physician.
A Continuing Medical Education Center containing 300 CME modules.
The leading independent drug reference, featuring information on more than 30,000 medications.
Daily physician summaries of important articles and announcements in clinical medicine.
Based in St. Louis, MD Consult, L.L.C. is a joint venture of the world's three leading English language medical publishers: W.B. Saunders, a division of Harcourt Brace & Company, Orlando, Fla.; Lippincott/Williams & Wilkins, a division of Wolters Kluwer U.S., Chicago; and Mosby, Inc., also a division of Harcourt Brace & Company. MD Consult outperformed 15 other online clinical information resources in a study to find answers to clinical questions conducted at the University of Iowa School of Medicine and published in the July 1999 issue of The Journal of Family Practice. A free 10-day pass to MD Consult is available at http://www.mdconsult.com.
###
For additional information about the MD Consult donation in Kosovo and Turkey, please contact:
Northwest Medical Teams International
Joe DiCarlo - 503/624-1000
International Medical Corps
Judy Lapin - 800/481-4462
International Rescue Committee
Bill Yaggy - 212/551-3033
RSS