International Medical Center (IMC) strives to provide the highest standards of medical care and is considered to be one of Saudi Arabia’s top hospitals. The IMC vision is to pioneer a unique approach of healing the body, mind, and soul by applying the best global healthcare standards and pursuing divine ethics. IMC is committed to high-quality patient care and continues to invest in IT infrastructure and new technologies that optimise the use of clinical systems and accuracy.
Evidence-based clinical resources support care quality & medical knowledge
IMC selected Lexicomp and UpToDate, the flagship drug reference and clinical decision support solutions from Wolters Kluwer to support medication therapy decisions at the point of care and medication order reviews. IMC prioritizes training and education of all medical staff including physicians, pharmacists, and nurses, andprovides access to solutions that help them keep medical knowledge up to date.
This is where IMC saw the value of Lexicomp and UpToDate, and the reason why IMC ultimately decided to adopt the solutions as their evidence-based information resources. With new drug research and medical evidence published at a rapid rate, pharmacists and clinicians at IMC recognize that it is an ongoing challenge for them to stay current. Lexicomp and Up- ToDate provide instant access to the latest drug usage and information at the point of care. This helps ensure that clinicians have access to the very latest guidelines and drug information that is reviewed and validated by medical experts.
In addition to supporting pharmacist and physicians, IMC also educates residents. One of IMC’s key missions is to train and educate professional medical human resources for the country. All residents at IMC are strongly encouraged to use online resources such as Lexicomp and UpToDate to keep themselves updated with fast-changing medical knowledge.
Creating a custom formulary for busy clinicians on-the-go
Through its Referential Monograph Customization service, Wolters Kluwer works with healthcare providers to create their own easily searchable online formularies and integrate hospital-specific policies and drug lists with trusted Lexicomp drug information. Custom databases combine the evidence-based clinical information in Lexicomp with institution-specific information on drug availability and regulations.
IMC is able to update its own policies,guidelines, and formulary availability data using a user-friendly program – Lexicomp Information Management System (LIMS). Using LIMS, IMC has been able to select special fields to be displayed in its customized drug monographs, such as Saudi Arabia Brand Names, Prescribing Privileges, Drug Specific Identifiers, IMC Guidelines and IMC Pregnancy Category.
IMC since made these custom databases available to their clinical teams wherever and whenever they need it through Lexicomp Mobile Apps. With the smartphone mobile version, the IMC formulary, as well as Lexicomp, have become accessible to all clinicians ‘on-the-go’.
Looking ahead
IMC readily embraces new technologies to improve quality of care and has implemented an electronic medical record (EMR) system for clinicians to access patient charts at the point of care. The next step in the innovation journey is to integrate clinical decision support resources into the EMR.
