The informationist: a prospective uncontrolled study
1 Medical Library, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, 2 Division of Surgery, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, 3 Department of Medicine, Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia
Objective. To determine whether doctors in an Australian tertiary hospital would use an informationist service, and to identify how the service would influence care.
Design. A prospective uncontrolled pilot study July 2002–January 2003.
Setting. A teaching hospital in South Australia.
Study participants. Fourteen doctors working in the selected units.
Intervention. An informationist attended specified medical in-patient ward rounds and clinical meetings in the Respiratory Medicine, Sleep Disorders, and Rheumatology units.
Main outcomes measures. Clinician self-assessed impact of information on a range of outcomes relating to clinical decision-making, clinician education, and avoidance of adverse events.
Results. In 23 weeks, 52 questions were generated by nine of 14 eligible doctors. Forty-eight of 52 (92%) feedback forms were completed, indicating an average of 5.7 impacted outcomes per response. Twenty-five of 48 (52%) provided new information to doctors, and 24/48 (50%) provided at least some information that could be used immediately. Most common contributions of the service to patient care were revision of treatment plan (21/48, 44%) and confirmation of proposed therapy (18/48, 38%). Thirteen of 48 (27%) contributed to avoiding adverse events, and 10/48 (21%) contributed to avoiding additional tests and procedures. Eleven of 11 (100%) doctors who used the service assessed that it contributed or probably contributed to their professional development, with 8/10 (80%) indicating a similar impact on improving clinical outcomes.
Conclusion. Medical staff will use an informationist service, which contributes substantially to a multiplicity of outcomes relating to medical decision-making, clinician education, and clinical outcomes.
Keywords: MeSH: evidence-based medicine, librarians, medical staff, patient care teams, Non MeSH: clinical medical librarians, clinical questions, informationist
Address reprint requests to Ruth M. Sladek, Australian Centre for Evidence Based Clinical Practice, Department of Medicine, Flinders Medical Centre, Flinders Drive, Bedford Park, South Australia 5042. E-mail: Ruth.Sladek{at}fmc.sa.gov.au
Accepted for publication August 13, 2004.
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