HealthJanuary 15, 2015

Wolters Kluwer Health announces launch of UpToDate Anywhere in Japan

Over 2 Million Topics Viewed by Japanese Clinicians in 2014

Wolters Kluwer, a leading global provider of information for healthcare professionals and students, announced today the launch of UpToDate® Anywhere in Japan. UpToDate Anywhere enables Japanese hospitals and healthcare organizations to provide clinicians with mobile access to UpToDate, the acclaimed evidence-based clinical decision support resource. Clinician usage of UpToDate nationwide is expected to steadily increase as mobile access becomes available in the country's healthcare institutions.

St. Luke's International Hospital, a general and teaching hospital located in the Tsukiji district of Chūō, Tokyo, is the first institution in Japan where access to UpToDate is available on smartphones and tablets. As one of central Tokyo's largest and most comprehensive medical care facilities, St. Luke's International Hospital uses UpToDate as a key resource to improve the quality and effectiveness of patient care.

"UpToDate is so comprehensive that it has become a staple in most, if not all, clinical and medical education conferences that I have facilitated over the last several years—not only at my institution, but at hospitals throughout Japan," stated Dr. Gautam Deshpande who is a Clinical Educator at St. Luke's International Hospital and also an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of Hawaii.

Dr. Deshpande comments on the value of anytime/anywhere access to UpToDate, "As physicians and residents increasingly travel between affiliated sites, UpToDate Anywhere makes it even easier for the busy clinician to access important information for patient care or case presentation while on the go."

In-depth: UpToDate Anywhere in Japan

With the launch of UpToDate Anywhere in Japan, clinicians can use the UpToDate app anytime and anywhere—in the hospital or at home. Ranked first among "The best medical apps for your new iPhone" by iMedicalApps and rated as one of "The Best Apps in Publishing" by EContent Magazine, the app is available in iOS, Android™ and Windows 8 mobile platforms.

UpToDate Anywhere has been enthusiastically received by the healthcare community in Japan. St. Luke's International Hospital is joined by a number of hospitals who have rapidly adopted the mobile health resource to ensure easy access to current, evidence-based clinical answers and recommendations for diagnosis and treatment:

  • Takeda General Hospital
  • Research Hospital, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo
  • Iwata City Hospital
  • NHO Kure Medical Center
  • Nishisaitama Chuo National Hospital
  • Teine Keijinkai Hospital
  • NHO Shimoshizu National Hospital
  • Iwamizawa Municipal General Hospital

Hospitals and healthcare systems in Japan that have a strategic objective to enhance workflow integration can opt to embed UpToDate in their electronic medical record systems. This allows clinicians to search UpToDate with fewer clicks and without additional windows or log-ins.

UpToDate Anywhere users in Japanese healthcare organizations benefit in particular from Search in Your Own Language, a customizable suite of multi-language search and navigation tools enabling clinicians to pose clinical questions in several languages, including Japanese. The intuitive auto-complete feature of UpToDate search also predicts words or phrases in Japanese to deliver faster search results.

Providing Answers to Clinical Questions in Japan: 
UpToDate has become a trustworthy resource for answering clinical questions in healthcare institutions in Japan. In 2014, over 2 million topics were viewed in UpToDate by Japanese clinicians. According to the 2014 UpToDate Subscriber Survey, nearly 3 out of 4 Japanese respondents say they use UpToDate regularly and 97% of Japanese users said that they are satisfied or very satisfied with UpToDate. In addition, over 700 leading healthcare institutions in Japan now rely on UpToDate to provide high quality care, including many medical schools tasked with training the next generation of Japanese doctors, such as the University of Tokyo, Keio University and Nagasaki University.

The Top Ten topics viewed by Japanese clinicians in 2014 were:

  • Treatment and prevention of Pneumocystis pneumonia in non-HIV-infected patients
  • Major side effects of systemic glucocorticoids
  • Cellulitis and erysipelas
  • Overview of IgG4-related disease
  • Anaphylaxis: Rapid recognition and treatment
  • Practice Changing Updates
  • Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica
  • Causes of rhabdomyolysis
  • Clinical features and diagnosis of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis
  • Initial assessment and management of acute stroke

"The list of Top Topics reflects the diverse range of UpToDate clinicians in Japan," commented Dr. Kensei Tobinai MD, PhD, Chief of the Department of Hematology at the National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo. Dr. Tobinai, who is also a contributor for UpToDate topics, adds, "The mention of 'Practice Changing Updates' in the list reflects how Japanese doctors rely on UpToDate to learn continuously about significant changes in the care they provide to their patients."

"As UpToDate adoption in Japan continues to grow, we are committed to earning the trust of Japanese clinicians as they work with colleagues and patients to make the right diagnostic and treatment decisions," said Denise Basow, MD, Vice President and General Manager, UpToDate at Wolters Kluwer Health, Clinical Solutions. "The launch of UpToDate Anywhere in Japan is an important step toward ensuring clinicians always have rapid access to reliable clinical recommendations at the point of care and beyond."

"As UpToDate adoption in Japan continues to grow, we are committed to earning the trust of Japanese clinicians as they work with colleagues and patients to make the right diagnostic and treatment decisions," said Denise Basow, MD, Vice President and General Manager, UpToDate at Wolters Kluwer Health, Clinical Solutions. "The launch of UpToDate Anywhere in Japan is an important step toward ensuring clinicians always have rapid access to reliable clinical recommendations at the point of care and beyond."

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer (EURONEXT: WKL) is a global leader in information, software solutions and services for professionals in healthcare; tax and accounting; financial and corporate compliance; legal and regulatory; corporate performance and ESG. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with technology and services.

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