The collaboration means that Cochrane Clinical Answers will be incorporated into BMJ Best Practice topics to give health professionals instant access to the highest-quality evidence for use in their daily practice.
Cochrane Clinical Answers, an evidence tool produced and published by Wiley, are based on the results of Cochrane systematic reviews. They provide evidence-based answers to clinical questions to inform decision making at the point of care, focusing on outcomes that matter most to patients.
BMJ Best Practice gives doctors fast and easy access to the latest information when making diagnosis and treatment decisions. Updated daily, it draws on the latest evidence-based research, guidelines and expert opinion to offer step-by-step guidance on diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and prevention.
Systematic reviews are the cornerstones of evidence based medicine. They bring together evidence from existing research to help answer important clinical questions, identify harms, and inform clinical guidelines, practice and policies worldwide.
Without them, decision makers, students and researchers would be at the mercy of often conflicting studies or expert opinion.
BMJ Best Practice already has a strong evidence base, but by incorporating Cochrane Clinical Answers, it will give health professionals the confidence to make the best decisions in partnership with patients, even in areas of clinical uncertainty.
In fact, a recent independent review of clinical decision support tools published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (1) ranked BMJ Best Practice equal first for breadth of disease coverage, editorial quality, and evidence-based methodology.
Sharon Cooper, Chief Digital Officer, BMJ said: “Both BMJ and Cochrane have been at the forefront of the evidence based medicine movement since it began, and the goals of our two organisations are closely aligned. We look forward to working together to help busy health professionals make decisions that are linked as firmly as possible to the highest quality evidence available for the benefit of patients.”
Cochrane Editor in Chief, David Tovey said, “I am delighted Cochrane will be working together with BMJ and health professionals globally to make better, more informed health decisions. Cochrane Clinical Answers is an important evidence-based tool that provides decision-makers with the best available evidence so that they can make informed decisions at the point of care.”
