Advances in technology have unquestionably changed the way that health care operates. Clinicians often have new, valuable tools at their disposal or greater access to the existing tools that they rely upon. Whenever there is an opportunity to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes, clinicians must take it. Any great medical expert can vouch that the learning process never ends and making informed decisions is critical.

The role of great information cannot be overstated. One recent study surveyed 16,122 physicians, residents, and nurses who were involved in patient care or clinical research. Across 56 hospital libraries serving 118 hospitals, three fourths reported that they ‘definitely or probably handled some aspect of patient care differently’ due to information obtained from the library and information resources. This encompassed advice given to the patient, diagnosis, as well as choice of drugs. And a whopping 95% of respondents to this survey came to the conclusion that they made more informed clinical decisions. As you might expect, on the other end of things, respondents reported a lower possibility of patient misunderstanding of the disease, additional tests, misdiagnosis, adverse drug reactions, medical errors, and patient mortality. It’s crystal clear that the library and library resources play a key role in the decision making process.

And it’s not just one study finding these kinds of results. Another study found that 71% of respondents in a 328 physician/health professional survey changed the way that they managed the care of their patients based on information from their health sciences library or resources related to it.

But the evidence doesn’t stop there. Just a librarian’s presence at morning reported has been positively tied to a shorter length of patient’s stay and lower hospital charges in many cases. When looking at these studies, it becomes blatantly obvious that medical libraries and librarians are an integral piece of the clinical process.

Unfortunately, while medical journal prices have skyrocketed – increasing by more than 30% in five years time, the budgets of health sciences libraries did not follow such a striking pattern. Member libraries of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries increased in budget size by only 5.7% during that same period of time. Not only that, the workforce at these same libraries dropped by 11% between the years of 2009 and 2012, meaning that libraries are faced with the unenviable burden of having to do more with less.

With these pressures looming overhead, a great mobile strategy offers to opportunity to maximize your return on investment, ensuring that budget money can be most effectively allocated and can make your information dissemination processes more efficient. Now all of the great information that impacts clinicians’ day-to-day roles is available at the palm of the hand. Contact with health sciences librarians is made easier than ever with chat functionality and other communication tools built right into your very own fully customized mobile app. A streamlined user experience, optimized for any device, makes certain that less time is spent on avoidable confusion – saving everyone involved valuable time and, ultimately, money.

Over 4,000 Boopsie libraries worldwide love their custom Boopsie app! Contact Boopsie for more information about how your library can improve your ability to serve patients. Contact us to sign up for one of our health sciences library demos here.