WHAT IS IT?
Essential Evidence Plus, published by Wiley Blackwell is a clinical point-of-care tool providing access to over 13,000 evidence-based, synthesized topics with links to other supporting resources. Essential Evidence Plus is available through the Georgia Interactive Network for Medical Information (GaIN) provided at Mercer University Libraries and to the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and the College of Nursing.
Essential Evidence Plus is an intuitive search engine providing access to multiple unique and linked databases. The main point of entry into Essential Evidence Plus is the Topics database that includes entries on common clinical questions about diseases and symptoms and drugs and other treatments. Each concise author-attributed article includes an Overall Bottom Line summary and a strength of evidence rating in addition to links to calculators, Cochrane Systematic Reviews, practice guidelines and many full text references.
WHAT’S IT GOT?
Other databases included within Essential Evidence Plus include:
Cochrane Systematic Reviews -- abstracts of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (with hyperlink to the full text) which is considered by most experts to be the gold standard of evidence on the effectiveness of more than 3o00 therapeutic interventions.
Decision Support Tools -- decision support tools and calculators to aid in treatment and diagnosis.
Diagnostic Test Calculators -- calculators that help choose the best diagnostic test for a specified condition and interpret the result. Most calculators include sensitivity and specificity of the test.
EBMG Guidelines -- evidence-based practice guidelines for symptoms and diseases.
EBMG Evidence Summaries -- descriptions of the scientific evidence underlying specific treatment recommendations.
History and Physical Calculators -- calculators that help determine the likelihood of a patient having a disease based on information gathered during history and physical exam.
NGC Practice Guidelines -- evidence-based guidelines from the National Guidelines Clearinghouse, part of the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality under the US Department of Health and Human Services.
POEMs Research Summaries -- Critically appraised synopses of new evidence emerging from continuous review, grading, and critical appraisal of more than 3000 studies published monthly in over 100 core health-care related journals.
BOTTOM LINE
Although much of the evidence content of Essential Evidence Plus can be gathered from other resources provided by Mercer University including Dynamed, The Cochrane Library and PubMed, Essential Evidence Plus compiles a variety of sources to bring evidence, tools and guidelines together in an easy to use interface that includes quick summaries and weighted evidence evaluations.
WANT MORE HELP?
Essential Evidence Plus provides extensive search tutorials linked from the Support tab on the main search page.
You may also contact me for assistance with this resource and any other research inquiry.
Hannah Rogers -- Librarian Liaison to the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
678 547 6272
rogers_hk@mercer.edu
