UpToDate, the clinical decision support tool from Wolters Kluwer, Health has been approved by the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom as a continuing professional development (CPD) activity.
The organisation is a collaboration between the Royal College of Physicians of London, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. The colleges have more than 50,000 members among them worldwide. The approval of UpToDate comes following new guidelines introduced by the Federation that recognise the use of online resources with current medical content (e-libraries) as CPD.
Members will now be able to earn and track credits eligible for continuing professional development while using UpToDate to research clinical questions at the point of care. CPD credits are earned from UpToDate by consulting information relevant to a specific clinical question, thus broadening clinical knowledge.
UpToDate will provide physicians and surgeons with quick and easy access to evidence-based clinical topics and recommendations. CPD credits can be earned through UpToDate anytime, anywhere, on desktop or mobile devices. According to research of UpToDate use in 2020, 1 in 4 clinicians (26%) in the UK and Ireland changed their course of action to a more appropriate treatment or diagnosis after consulting UpToDate.
Adrian Jennings, MD, associate medical director for CPD at the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom, said: “Physicians within the Federation CPD scheme can now conveniently earn external (category 1) CPD credits when they are caring for a patient and need to research a clinical questions in UpToDate. UpToDate will help our members and fellows keep their knowledge and skills current.” Dr. Jennings added.
