New MedlinePlus July 14th

MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus en español will debut a new design on July 14th, 2010.  Many of the changes are based on feedback NLM received from users.

Redesign features:

• Emphasizes search and makes navigation more intuitive
• Frequently used content is easier to find
• New MedlinePlus logo for strong product branding
• Web 2.0 technologies that help users share content
• Distinctive color schemes for English and Spanish pages

To get a sneak peek at what’s coming, please go to http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/preview/overview.html to start your tour.

There is a feedback form on the bottom of every page.

PubMed Updates Include Clinical Queries

PubMed® (PubMed.gov) has updated several features

• Clinical Queries: One search on this updated page gives results across Clinical Study Categories, Systematic Reviews AND Medical Genetics
• Send to E-mail: Abstract Format now defaults to NOT including MeSH information
• Advanced Search page is cleaner
• Discover Ads, those boxes in the right hand column, are also cleaner and allow one to minimize the box
• My NCBI allows sign ins to Partner Organizations’ Accounts

Other Notables Issues

• StopWords: Even if a Stopword is in the Title, it cannot be used as a search term

The May-Jun 2010 NLM Technical Bulletin articles include:

Use Partner Organizations’ Accounts to Sign in to My NCBI [Editor's Note added on June 4, 2010]
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/mj10/mj10_myncbi_partner_acct.html

Changes for PubMed Discovery Ads
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/mj10/mj10_myncbi_search_details.html

PubMed Advanced Search Page Modified
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/mj10/mj10_pm_adv_search_page.html

PubMed Send to E-mail Abstract Format Enhanced
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/mj10/mj10_pm_send_email.html

PubMed Clinical Queries Page Redesign
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/mj10/mj10_clin_query.html

Health Care Reform Resources

Here are some resources to learn more about the Health Care Reform 2010

HealthReform.org

Managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, this standard government site maintains updated coverage and publications. One section, Putting Americans in Control of Their Health Care, provides comprehensive FAQ’s on the effects of the reform within a variety of situations

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The mission of the RWJF is simple; help Americans lead healthy lives.  Their section of Health Reform includes many publications on briefings and data on the key issues driving reform of the health care system

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

In addition to comprehensive research analysis that explains the basics of Health Reform, this site features many interactive tools–including a side-by-side comparison of major Health Care Reform.

The Washington Post

“Tracking the national debate on health care system overhaul” is the tag line to the specific coverage on everything concerning the Health Care Reform. Designed for every knowledge level, The Washington Post includes a variety of resources ranging from opinion pieces from prominent experts to info graphics on the health-care package.

Alliance for Health Reform

Many resources are available from this non-partison, non-profit group, including publications like “Covering Health Issues: A Sourcebook for Journalists”

Chile Earthquake Information Resources

The National Library of Medicine announced a new page on Chile Earthquake Information for those in the United States and elsewhere who are monitoring or responding to the medical and public health needs in Chile.  These are some of the featured sites:

Pan American Health Organization

Part of the World Health Organization, strives to improve disaster preparedness in the health sector, protect health services from the risk of disasters, and support countries to respond to health needs during emergencies to the countries of the Latin America and the Caribbean

Earthquakes: Resources for Response and Recovery

A comprehensive set of health-related resources for earthquake responders and relief workers

Health Information for Travelers to Chile

This resource site from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, highlights travel preparedness

Cochrane Evidence Aid: Resources for Chile & Haiti Earthquakes

A selection of systematic reviews and their conclusions from The Cochrane Library on healthcare topics that have reported as important at this time. These are signposts to systematic reviews that might be helpful to decision-makers, and links to the full-text articles are provided. All countries in Latin America and the Caribbean can access The Cochrane Library for free via the Virtual Health Library BIREME interface (in English, Spanish, or Portuguese)

Top Free Medical Apps

This list includes some of the top medical applications freely available from the iTunes App Store!

Epocrates: A free drug reference c0ntaining information on more than 3,300 drugs, including dosing, adverse reactions, pricing, and pictures.

Skyscape Medical Resources: A collection of free medical information and decision-support resources for healthcare professionals including Physicians, Nurses, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Medical Students, Nursing Students, and more

MedCalc: A medical calculator that contains medical formulas and scores

EyeChart: A mobile Snellen eye chart that can provide useful screens for rough visual acuity

Eponyms: Short descriptions of medical eponyms

Medical Encyclopedia-University of Maryland Medical System: Contains more than 50,000 pages of medical information in both English and Spanish and provides medically reviewed information in areas like diseases, surgery, nutrition, and more

Medscape: Features extensive clinical reference with thousands of images and videos, extensive drug reference with over 7,000 generic, brand, and OTC drugs, drug interaction checker, medical news, CME/CE activities, physician directory, and more

Relax with Andrew Johnson: A stress reducer that teachers relaxation techniques that can help with pain control, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and more

uHear: A mobile hearling loss screening test

Haiti Earthquake Resources

The following resources are available at no cost; publishers have made these resources available for health care providers responding to the Haiti earthquake

Emergency Access Initiative:  This online collection provides access to 200+ popular medical journals. It also includes over 60 e-books, including the Merck Manual, Harrison’s Internal Medicine, basic textbooks, drug handbooks, and titles on emergency medicine, infectious diseases, toxicology, post-disaster public health and more.

Health Resources for Haiti:  A compilation of links to resources for medical teams responding to the Haiti earthquake. The page includes Creole-language materials for non-Creole speakers to use in healthcare settings, as well information on traumatic injuries, mass fatalities, mental health, and the public health consequences of the earthquake damage.

Infectious Diseases of Haiti: This guide covers the 198 infectious diseases known to occur in Haiti and is based on the resources of the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Online Network (GIDEON).

GIDEON: User ID: s2759300 and password: trial. GIDEON is a knowledge management tool used for diagnosis and reference in the fields of tropical and infectious diseases, epidemiology, microbiology, and antimicrobial chemotherapy.

DynaMed: User ID: s2759300 and password: trial. DynaMed has summaries for nearly 3,000 disease topics and 800 drug records. The information is from medical journals, associations, and contributing clinicians and is intended for health professionals.

Cochrane Evidence Aid: resources for Haiti earthquake: This page provides access to Haiti-relevant reviews from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Joint Language University: This DOD-sponsored website has Haitian Creole language materials that can be downloaded from their home page. You can learn very basic introductory phrases along with targeted medical, police, and military terminology.

MedlinePlus AND Mobile MedlinePlus: Basic health information for the general public, plus patient information on prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

Emergency Access Initiative Launched

Emergency Access Initiative

The National Library of Medicine (NLM), in partnership with members of  the Professional & Scholarly Publishing division of the Association of
American Publishers announce the availability of free full-text articles from over 200 biomedical journals and over 30 select reference books for libraries and hospitals affected by the earthquake in Haiti.  The collection is also intended for healthcare personnel responding to the disaster.

The Emergency Access Initiative collection is a combination of common biomedical journal titles and reference books, and also emergency medicine related titles.  The Emergency Access Initiative serves as a temporary collection replacement and/or supplement for libraries affected by disasters that need to continue to serve medical staff and affiliated users.  It is also intended for medical personnel responding to the specified disaster.

The literature is being provided as part of the Emergency Access
Initiative – a collaborative partnership between NLM, the National
Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) and participating publishers to provide free access to full-text articles and select reference books to
healthcare professionals and libraries affected by disasters.  While the
project was established to assist libraries affected by disasters in the
United States, NLM and the publishers are activating the Emergency
Access Initiative today in light of the medical disaster unfolding in
the aftermath of the earthquake.

Emergency Access Initiative: http://eai.nlm.nih.gov

For questions regarding the Emergency Access Initiative, please email
custserv@nlm.nih.gov or call 1-888-346-3656 in the United States, or
301-594-5983 internationally.  Libraries in the United States can
contact their Regional Medical Library for assistance and support at
1-800-338-7657

Mobile MedlinePlus®

National Library of Medicine® (NLM®) has recently released a mobile version of MedlinePlus. This new service provides health information for the growing audience of mobile Internet users by optimizing MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus en español for display on mobile devices.

Note that Mobile MedlinePlus is a mobile Web site, not a mobile “app” (application).  NLM developed a mobile Web site to reach as broad an audience as possible and to be usable on a variety of devices.  It is available in English and Spanish and includes a subset of content from the full Web site. It also features:

• summaries for over 800 diseases, conditions and wellness topics
• latest health news
• illustrated medical encyclopedia
• information on thousands of prescription and over-the-counter medications
• the search engine is powered by Vivísimo, the same technology behind the search on MedlinePlus

Visit Mobile MedlinePlus in English at http://m.medlineplus.gov and in Spanish at http://m.medlineplus.gov/spanish.