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FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

13/02/2024 BMJ has responded to feedback collated in December:

UpToDate has more breadth of information than BMJ Best Practice

BMJ Best Practice is a generalist point of care tool - the content in BP is exactly right for this audience -  covers over 30+ specialties and over 90% of the most commonly occurring conditions in both primary and secondary care settings.

https://bestpractice.bmj.com/info/about-bmj-best-practice

Best Practice also offers access to thousands of recent case reports on rare diseases and unusual presentation of more common diseases

U2D has a lot of information on drug induced movement disorders

BMJBP has topics on Tardive dyskinesia, Neuroleptic malignant syndrome, Dystonias, Assessment of tremor, Serotonin syndrome which are types of movement disorders / drug induced - because of the format of Best Practice (Condition based topics and Assessment based topics) they are in this format, rather than the fact it's drug induced that is the focus.

U2D frequently provides good tables/lists on things to help us as an aide memoir

BMJBP has a bookmarking feature in the app.

They also have infographics in many acute topics with lists of what to do and pathways. For example:

Status epilepticus (Key Recommendations section)

https://bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-gb/3000127/diagnosis-recommendations

Small bowel obstruction

https://bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-gb/3000119/management-recommendations

Pulmonary embolism

https://bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-gb/3000115/management-recommendations

CAP

https://bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-gb/3000108/management-recommendations

U2D has clinical nuance that often sets a review article apart

Acute topics with the Comorbidities manager https://bestpractice.bmj.com/comorbidities?region=gb may have a content feature called 'practical tips', in the management or diagnosis recommendations sections (and treatment algorithm), as well as many of the Comorbidities fragments themselves.

See https://bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-gb/3000096/management-recommendations

Alcohol withdrawal: click to open the section on Supportive care and there is a practical tip: "Hypokalaemia and hypocalcaemia will not resolve until adequate magnesium replacement is given. Be aware that following intravenous replacement, the magnesium level will rise initially but then falls over the following 72 hours, when a repeat magnesium infusion may be required"

When evidence is lacking, they provide expert opinion and they state this in the topic by saying things like "In the clinical experience of the author of this topic" or "In practice" and explain the rationale behind a recommendation when there is no evidence or the evidence is scarce. 

Other things to highlight is that Comorbidities topics use directive language in sequence of what to do first, etc and how to do it, with urgent recommendations at the top to ensure time-sensitive actions are not missed. For example;

ischaemic stroke

https://bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-gb/3000114/management-recommendations

status epilepticus

https://bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-gb/3000127/diagnosis-recommendations

U2D is well referenced/larger evidence-base

Some of the items mentioned in the pages linked below include; Cochrane Clinical Answers, Clear references, Evidence tables, EBM Toolkit, Evidence panels, and “more info” boxes which are collapsed so that if the readers want to expand on the evidence behind the recommendation they can by clicking on them. This way there is no cluttering of the important stuff they have to do, with the evidence or the rationale but both are there if they wanted to expand.

Trusted content

https://bestpractice.bmj.com/info/trusted-content/

Updating process

https://bestpractice.bmj.com/info/evidence-based/

Evidence tables

https://bestpractice.bmj.com/info/evidence-tables

U2D gives us access to Microbiology/Infectious Disease Journals we cannot get elsewhere

BMJ Best Practice covers infectious diseases. These can be browsed here https://bestpractice.bmj.com/specialties/12/Infectious-diseases

Also, referenced articles of NHS subscribed journals can be accessed via the reference boxes or the References page. So the full text can be seen for nationally subscribed journals, in addition to free/open access articles. Alternatively, the abstracts can be accessed (The library can help with access to journal articles)

Ileostomy or colostomy care and complications

BMJ Best Practice content is divided mainly into Condition and Assessment topics (and the above does not fall into these). However, the procedures/operations will of course be mentioned in the content. Users may also find case reports on these.

Difficult to find information on BMJBP

They have recently launched a new search feature following user research - there is now an auto suggest feature in the search bar, and the way results are displayed and can be filtered has been made more user friendly.