The University of Edinburgh Brings Quality NHS and Other Resources to the Point of Care for a Steal
One of my passions is practicing and teaching evidence-based medicine (EBM). Many of the reviews I select to write on iMedicalApps are apps that connect the user to EBM. Every year, my top ten app lists are filled with EBM apps. Many of the top medical references such as UpToDate, DynamedPlus, Essential Evidence contain great EBM information and are easily accessed at the point of care. However, I am somewhat surprised by the number of practitioners I lecture about medical apps who do not have access to these wonderful, but somewhat expensive references. Typically, I recommend Medscape as a good and free, but not necessarily up to date reference. The University of Edinburgh has created an app that intends to bring high quality, free or low-cost references on common medical diagnoses to the masses. DiagnosisView brings material from the NHS choices, Medline Plus, and NICE (among others) to help students, residents, and junior faculty at the point of care.
Here on iMedicalApps, we have reviewed several apps from the NHS Scotland and the University of Edinburgh including Polypharmacy Guidance and have favorably reviewed many others including Antimicrobial Companion, and NHS24 MSK.
Evidence-based medicine
DiagnosisView from the University of Edinburgh brings together primarily free resources (NHS choices, Medline Plus, and NICE) into one app dedicated to common diagnoses (over 1000 included to date). The app content comes from reputable sources some of which readily include references, but others do not. The content is aimed towards medical students, residents, and junior faculty especially primary care providers. The app may not be enough for those looking for a highly evidence-based resource such as Dynamed, Essential Evidence, or UpToDate.
Who would benefit from this app?
Students, residents, mid-levels, junior faculty in any specialty looking for basic information from reputable sources on common medical conditions.
Price
o Free, or $1.99 to unlock all information.
Likes
o Has reputable information on over 1000 diagnoses.
o Multiple free sources for each item searched with numerous hyperlinks/references.
o Available for Android.
Dislikes
o Search function could be more intuitive with much screen space wasted.
o Some information returned is at best at the level of medical student/patient.
o NICE guidelines and some other resources only available to users in the U.K. without a subscription.
Overall
DiagnosisView is an app we want to root for since it attempts to bring high-quality information to healthcare practitioners at a bargain price without just resorting to “Dr. Google.” For U.K. practitioners, this app is a must-have and worth trying out for anyone who doesn’t have access to UpToDate, Dynamed, or Essential Evidence. The app will likely not be detailed enough for subspecialists. However, it should be enough for most medical students, residents, and primary care providers to get a good overview of a topic quickly at the point of care. For an asking price of $1.99, it is very reasonable to try out to see if it could meet your needs.
Overall Score
o 4.5 stars
User Interface
o 4.0 stars
Easy to use, but the search function and screen layout could be improved.
Multimedia Usage
o 4.5 stars
App has numerous links to resources from the NHS, NICE, MedLine, and numerous other groups to provide background and some detailed information on common diagnoses.
Price
o 5 stars
App is free.
Real-world applicability
o 4.0 stars
DiagnosisView from the University of Edinburgh brings reputable and evidence-based information on over 1000+ diagnoses to healthcare practitioners at the point of care quickly and cheaply. Although not an app/service that will displace UpToDate or Dynamed, DiagnosisView may give some other quick reference apps some serious competition, especially for those in medical school and residency in the U.K. The app requires a small fee to unlock content, but most is free. Some content still requires a library/institutional subscription to view and the NICE guidelines are only available to users in the U.K. Absolutely worth trying out in the clinic or on the wards.
Device Used For Review
o iPhone 11 Pro running iOS 13.1.2.
Available for Download for iPhone, iPad, Android.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.
