Overview
Medical libraries play a critical role in healthcare and academic environments, serving as gateways to the latest evidence-based knowledge. Yet today’s libraries are stretched thin — tasked with meeting the growing need for interdisciplinary resources while juggling budget constraints and limited journal access.
This case study explores how a university-affiliated teaching hospital tackled these challenges by implementing the LWW Clinical Medicine Journal Collection®.
The problem
A hematologist at a hospital was treating a patient with a troubling mix of symptoms, including neurological complications, autoimmune markers, and joint pain and inflammation.
The pattern suggested a rare, multi-system autoimmune condition, but diagnosing it wasn’t straightforward. The clues pointed in several directions — Neurology, Immunology, Rheumatology — but the hematologist didn’t have access to the journals needed to investigate across specialties. The physician, working with limited hematology subscriptions, turned to the hospital library and discovered the LWW Clinical Medicine Journal Collection.
Without a precise diagnosis, treatment options were uncertain. The hematologist needed timely, comprehensive research to guide the next step, but the right information was scattered through multiple sources.
The solution
To better support clinicians and researchers across departments, the hospital library introduced the LWW Clinical Medicine Journal Collection — an extensive bundled journal collection providing full-text access to 200+ journals.
For the hematologist, this new access was a game changer. Through LWW Clinical Medicine Journal Collection, they explored research across multiple disciplines:
- Neurology sources helped connect neurological symptoms to autoimmune processes.
- Immunology articles detailed how inflammatory pathways could explain systemic dysfunction.
- Rheumatology case studies revealed similar patterns in rare autoimmune syndromes.
With a more complete clinical picture, the hematologist was able to pinpoint the condition — a rare, multi-system autoimmune disorder. That clarity made it much easier to bring in the right specialists and work together to build a clear, well-rounded treatment plan.
The diagnosis was timely and accurate, leading to a collaborative care plan that addressed the condition from all angles. Access to cross-specialty literature directly influenced this positive outcome.
Key takeaways
- Wider access: Access to previously inaccessible journals provided doctors and researchers with crucial information.
- Quicker results: With everything in one place, users found what they needed without the usual back-and-forth, expediting research and decision-making.
- Better decision-making: By tapping into a range of perspectives and expertise, clinicians felt more confident in the decisions they made for their patients.
- Smarter budgeting: The new bundled model allowed the library to get more value from its budget, delivering better results while avoiding the substantial cost of hundreds of a la carte subscriptions.
- Satisfied users: Staff shared how much smoother and more productive their research had become — and how much they appreciated the change.
Conclusion
This case highlights something we see often in today’s medical world — some of the toughest clinical questions don’t have one clear answer. They call for insight from different specialties working together. When the doctor accessed the LWW Clinical Medicine Journal Collection at the hospital library, it eliminated the barriers that once slowed their research. Through the LWW Clinical Medicine Journal Collection, clinicians made faster decisions, collaborated more easily, and applied their expertise more effectively.
The LWW Clinical Medicine Journal Collection wasn’t just a research resource — it became a vital tool for enhancing clinical expertise and supporting more informed, collaborative decision-making.
