Medscape Critical Appraisal Questions
Name
The app is called Medscape, a name the associated coding organization assigned. Medscape refers to a healthcare application aiming to provide online healthcare services. It is one of many medical care applications that offer a patient-physician interface for interaction in a telemedicine setup (O’connor & Andrews, 2018). It helps improve patient care as it provides the physicians with adequate and helpful clinical information and is essential for treating the patients. Both physicians and eligible medical students can use it.
Author
Peter Frishauf founded the Medscape app. He maintains the app and ensures that healthcare ethics are upheld. Medscape is the top website for doctors and other healthcare professionals around the globe. It provides content for continuing medical education, the most recent medical news, and expert opinions (de Oliveira et al., 2022). Doctors of medicine get full access to the network of websites and services through their free membership in Medscape.
Endorsement
The Food and Drug Administration granted the Medscape app a license, and numerous academic institutions and medical organizations worldwide have given it their support. More than 2 million users have used Medscape, the most popular app among medical professionals and academics, to find the most advanced and effective diagnoses and treatments for most diseases (de Oliveira et al., 2022). Educational institutions advise students to use it since it enables them to adopt evidence-based healthcare services.
Operation
The electronic database that gave rise to Medscape, established in 1995, gained notoriety for consistently providing high-quality, accessible content that covered clinical, pathophysiology, epidemiology, treatment protocols, medications, and complementary exams that could be ordered for a wide range of diseases. It is accessible as a mobile app for Android, iPad, and iPhone devices without cost (de Oliveira et al., 2022). The program clears up many questions, whether in the search system, in the listing of cases, or in clinical reasoning, and is frequently cited as an excellent aid for daily practice.
Aesthetics
The Medscape program is easy to browse, particularly for medical prescriptions. There are 129 formulas, scales, and ratings in the software. There are dosage calculators included in 600 medications. As a result, it enables the user to alter each drug’s renal dose or calculate the amount based on the patient’s weight. Without an internet connection, patients’ clinical references and drug interactions can be obtained (de Oliveira et al., 2022). It is free, often updated, and evaluated every day. It works on older Android phones and is accessible for all operating systems.
Purpose
Every doctor will prescribe at least once while working as a practitioner. It may even start to become a routine for many people. Nevertheless, despite its more “routine” content, it is still crucial to be well defined, giving the patient clear instructions so that he understands why and how to follow them, contributing to a quicker recovery. With a vast network of data and information, Medscape deals with the broadest range of medical content (Tuladhar et al., 2021). It includes updates on FDA approvals, the US drug regulatory body (it is essential to note the application), news about conferences, and information from new clinical trial data. Therefore, the application is easy to navigate and use even without instructions.
Clinical Decision Making
Medical diagnosis, therapy, and the prescription of healthcare recommendations and treatments have benefited dramatically from Medscape. The influence of social media, where even medical professionals give false information, is expanding. Patients will continue to ask their friends, colleagues, and family members for medical advice on the internet or through text messages (O’connor & Andrews, 2018). Even though it is unlikely to be successful, the healthcare professional significantly impacts the patient’s decision-making. Doctors must know how to speak with patients about false medical claims because while accurate information is crucial, it is insufficient.
Safety
There have been few updates to the Medscape application that could hurt a patient. This is because it includes information that healthcare groups have verified. Because the functions of each menu item have been categorized, using Medscape is also extremely simple (O’connor & Andrews, 2018). Although all of the content on Medscape is free, there are ads occasionally. More appropriate for use when looking for details on the illness or a treatment manual.
Privacy and Security
Medscape offers patient information privacy by encrypting the diagnostic and treatment information fed in the application. The application has a privacy policy that requires creating an account, which the user can only access. Additionally, it upholds the ethical standards of healthcare to advance accessible healthcare. To access all Services, the user must create a Medscape Network account (Tuladhar et al., 2021). Users must fill out the registration form with their name, email address, occupation, specialization, and other requested information. They must also choose a username and password linked to their account.
User
The purpose of Medscape is to assist medical professionals, nursing students, and people in improving their access to healthcare. With up-to-date prescribing and safety information on more than 6,000 branded medications, 1,000 over-the-counter drugs, and 8,000 monographs, Medscape also enables users to perform research (Tuladhar et al., 2021). It is also regarded as one of the top prescription apps for other reasons (Tuladhar et al., 2021). In addition to this vast knowledge repository, Medscape now offers a Drug Interaction Checker tool.
Distribution
Medscape has been designed for broader distribution; most people can access the app seamlessly. Firstly, the app uses English as the primary language when a person is accessing it. The usage of English coincides with the language’s role in international matters (O’connor & Andrews, 2018). Typically, English can be easily understood by countries whose people are non-native English speakers, as most encounter the language on other apps and even on social media. Therefore, Medscape was designed for broader distribution as opposed to local.
Credibility
Since the application gets its data from licensed healthcare organizations, the information it contains is regarded as reliable. More than 4,000 expert-written, evidence-based articles with pictures and videos are available on the Medscape platform. For each process, more than 600 of them provide step-by-step instructions (O’connor & Andrews, 2018). More than 100 tables, protocols, and general recommendations are also accessible. All illnesses, including their pathophysiology, epidemiology, differential diagnoses, management, treatments, and medication alternatives, are briefly explained.
Relevance
Current information on medical diagnosis and treatment can be found on Medscape. One of the most popular medical apps for cellphones is now available in English. The weekly updates of its enormous offline content justify the up-to-date stamp (Tuladhar et al., 2021). It has proven to be a valuable resource for academics and professionals who work shifts, including clinical, surgical, or pediatric emergencies. The most current evidence-based treatment methods are used in the medical updates, guaranteeing that healthcare professionals are involved in the most recent patient research and care.
Scenario/Example
Rheumatoid arthritis affects 1% of people worldwide, according to estimates. Chronic autoimmune inflammatory illness rheumatoid arthritis primarily affects the joints and is very painful. The condition is more prevalent in adults between 30 and 50 and is more common in women (O’connor & Andrews, 2018). WHO has given the go-ahead for Medscape to be used to assist patients in adhering to their doctor’s orders for baricitinib, the biological medication that is most frequently used to control the condition.
To expose the general public to the current state of the medical landscape, Medscape News content is derived from Medscape.com. Texts on professional ethics and local business are also included. Medical news and health alerts are provided for 34 specialties, and the content is updated daily (O’connor & Andrews, 2018). Additionally, the whole Medline database may be searched straight from the app, and the most interesting articles can be saved and emailed for later reading.
Description of the App
For doctors and other healthcare professionals, the Medscape application offers access to medical information. There are numerous subjects covered in Medscape’s Medical Reference. First, a medicine guide with information on uses, dosage instructions, contraindications, and generic or brand names. The second is the condition guide, which provides in-depth information on conditions with AZ scenarios. Each ailment is covered in detail, from a summary to instructions on diagnosing and treating it (O’connor & Andrews, 2018). Thirdly, the procedure guide includes an action manual, where a medical calculator assists doctors in weighing various clinical decision choices.
Physicians and other healthcare professionals are the target audience for the Services. By using the Services, users represent and warrant that they are permitted to use the Services in whole or part and have all necessary rights, power, and ability to agree to and abide by these Terms. Only instructional and informational purposes are served by the information and resources made available through the Services (O’connor & Andrews, 2018). Although the Services can be helpful to users who are healthcare professionals, they are not meant to replace the clinical judgment of a licensed healthcare professional.
References
de Oliveira, M. L. R., Nery, G. O., Torresan, T. T., Arcanjo, R. A., Ferreira, M. B. C., & Montagner, F. (2022). Frequency and characterization of potential drug interactions in dentistry—a cross-sectional study. Clinical Oral Investigations Newspaper, 1-9.
O’Connor, S., & Andrews, T. (2018). In clinical nursing education, smartphones and mobile applications (apps): A student perspective. Nurse Education Today, 69, 172-178.
Tuladhar, L. R., Shrestha, S. L., Regmi, D., Bimali, S., Bhusal, S., & Khadka, P. (2021). Drug-drug interactions between hypoglycemic and non-hypoglycemic medication in diabetic patients with comorbidities in a tertiary care center: A descriptive cross-sectional study. JNMA: Journal of the Nepal Medical Association, 59(243), 1125. Web.