Newswise — NEW YORK, NY — December 3, 2018 — MDCalc, the global leader in online evidence-based medical calculators, has launched its new guideline summaries in a public beta. The first set of 11 summaries debuted at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) in Philadelphia in early October 2018.
MDCalc, best known for expertly translating complex data into easy-to-use medical calculators at the point of care, is applying those same practices to medical society guidelines. The guideline summaries were developed in collaboration among MDCalc, the guideline authors, MDCalc’s pool of expert contributors (academic practicing GI physicians), and ACG’s Practice Parameters Committee.
“We are looking forward to expanding the partnership with MDCalc, in light of their insight and expertise in delivering clinically useful tools for busy clinicians,” said ACG President Sunanda V. Kane, MD, MSPH, FACG. “The College values its collaboration with MDCalc with whom we have had a positive experience as the ACG’s official source for GI calculators,” commented Mark B. Pochapin, MD, FACG, ACG President Elect and a member of the MDCalc Scientific Advisory Board. “Our partnership with MDCalc is of vital importance as we try and disseminate important ACG clinical practice guidelines to our membership in a format that is portable, accessible, and convenient.” said David W. Wan, MD, FACG, Chair of the ACG Practice Parameters Committee, which oversees the development of all clinical practice guidelines.
A report from the New England Health Institute (NEHI) cited inconvenience as one of the primary barriers to practicing physicians using guidelines regularly. While most guidelines are available online, limited searchability and lack of optimization for digital and mobile formats makes them difficult for physicians to use at the bedside.
“MDCalc's summaries of the ACG guidelines are easy to access and quick to use - we were very cognizant to keep the busy practitioner in mind when developing them,” said inflammatory bowel disease specialist and MDCalc Editorial Board member Shannon Chang, MD. Dr. Chang oversaw the development of several of the summaries.
MDCalc’s guideline summaries have a number of key features aimed at optimizing the user experience, including (1) easy navigation, broken down by disease stage and workup options, (2) concise visual icons for strength of recommendation and level of evidence, allowing readers to assess the recommendation statements at a glance, and (3) custom links to the full guideline, taking the user directly to the corresponding content in the guideline.
“We’re thrilled to be building on our existing collaboration with the ACG,” said MDCalc co-founder and emergency physician Joseph Habboushe, MD, MBA. “With their position as the leading GI society, plus MDCalc’s broad user base and platform, we’ll be able to make their guidelines much more accessible not only to practicing GI doctors, but also to all clinicians treating patients with GI complaints.” MDCalc is also partnered with the American College of Emergency Physicians and is summarizing their clinical policies in a similar fashion.
ACG partnered with MDCalc in 2017, with MDCalc initially serving as the official medical calculators of the ACG, as the most-used online clinical tools by physicians for key evidence-based GI decision tools like the MELD Score for liver disease, Lille Model for Alcoholic Hepatitis, and 60+ others.
A full listing of the guideline summaries is accessible at mdcalc.com/guidelines.
About MDCalc:
MDCalc was founded by practicing doctors Graham Walker and Joseph Habboushe to improve physician efficiency and patient outcomes. Since 2005, MDCalc has been the leading medical reference for the most relevant, up-to-date and widely-used clinical decision tools that support evidence-based patient care. Today it is used at the bedside by more than one million medical professionals around the globe, including >50% of US physicians.
About the American College of Gastroenterology:
The American College of Gastroenterology is the pre-eminent professional organization that champions the evolving needs of clinicians in the delivery of high quality, evidence-based and compassionate health care to gastroenterology patients. Its mission is to advance world-class care for patients with gastrointestinal disorders through excellence, innovation and advocacy.