ClinicalKey lets doctors search an enormous medical database of books, videos, papers and images to find the answer to their medical questions. ClinicalKey’s motto is “fastest right answer.” It eliminates all non-medical or irrelevant answers that would pop up on Google or other search engine.

Jim Donohue the Managing Director for Global Clinical Reference Group called it one of the “most exciting projects” he has worked on. It is available for both healthcare facilities and individual doctors.

In Use

ClinicalKey is very straightforward. After logging in you are immediately presented with a search bar. In response to the typed search, the intuitive search engine presents a list of potential answers based whether the doctor is searching for a disease, anatomy or procedure.

It also presents a list of “you may also be interested in items.” After selecting from the initial group, a new screen shows with the results within that group. The center box lists all the relevant entries –  doctors can scroll down to find the right answer or use the box on the left side to further narrow the search by content type (such as books, journals, first consult, video).

As you highlight each item, an excerpt appears in the right preview pane. Doctors can decide before clicking the item whether it best answers their question. Doctors can also use ClinicalKey to put together PowerPoint presentations and email content to others.

Technology Employed

ClinicalKey is a cloud-based solution so nothing more than internet access is required. Individual doctors can purchase a monthly subscription (paid yearly).

Ease of Use, Configuration and Deployment

ClinicalKey’s layout is extremely easy to navigate. Arranged in a logical manner with a three-pane layout, ClinicalKey makes it easy to find the right answer the first time. Since ClinicalKey is web-based, no configuration is necessary.

After activating the service and registering, ClinicalKey is ready to go.

Recap

ClinicalKey has invested a lot of time into creating a research tool that understands how doctors look for answers to medical questions. It taps into an enormous amount of medical and clinical data, but only from reliable sources.

Advantages

• User Friendly
• Well laid out
• Relevant data
• Subscription-based

Disadvantages

• While the subscription is monthly, it is paid on an annual basis

My Take

Well-thought out and well-executed, ClinicalKey is a great tool for doctors. It really is simple to use and offers so much more than standard search engines.