Speed and accuracy of a point of care web-based knowledge resource for clinicians: A controlled crossover trial

Background: effective knowledge translation at the point of care requires that clinicians quickly find correct answers to clinical questions,and that they have appropriate confidence in their answers. web-based knowledge resources can facilitate this process. objective: the objective of our study was to evaluate a novel web-based knowledge resource in comparison with other available web-based resources,using outcomes of accuracy,time,and confidence. methods: we conducted a controlled,crossover trial involving 59 practicing clinicians. each participant answered questions related to two clinical scenarios. for one scenario,participants used a locally developed web-based resource,and for the second scenario,they used other self-selected web-based resources. the local knowledge resource (askmayoexpert) was designed to provide very concise evidence-based answers to commonly asked clinical questions. outcomes included time to a correct response with at least 80% confidence (primary outcome),accuracy,time,and confidence. results: answers were more often accurate when using the local resource than when using other web-based resources,with odds ratio 6.2 (95% ci 2.6-14.5; p<.001) when averaged across scenarios. time to find an answer was faster,and confidence in that answer was consistently higher,for the local resource (p<.001). overconfidence was also less frequent with the local resource. in a time-to-event analysis,the chance of responding correctly with at least 80% confidence was 2.5 times greater when using the local resource than with other resources (95% ci 1.6-3.8; p<.001). conclusions: clinicians using a web-based knowledge resource designed to provide quick,concise answers at the point of care found answers with greater accuracy and confidence than when using other self-selected web-based resources. further study to improve the design and implementation of knowledge resources may improve point of care learning.