The third version of MedicinesComplete will be launched at the end of this month. Benedict Lam investigates the new features of the latest version and how it could help pharmacists, academics and other users in their day-to-day practice
Launched in 2004, MedicinesComplete is an online drug information subscription service from the Pharmaceutical Press (the publications division of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society). At the end of September 2009, version 3 will be launched.
Version 3 of MedicinesComplete has an improved positioning of precision search limits, which allows users to locate relevant documents and passages quickly
MedicinesComplete, which is updated quarterly, provides online access to a range of drug and healthcare references. Its integrated search scans all the products and brings together information from a number of sources, including
- the Pharmaceutical Press
- the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
- American Pharmacists Association
- British Medical Association
- the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
- Merck and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
Users can also search on a particular disease or particular publication within the site. It provides:
- Over 30,000 drug, poison, interaction and herbal monographs
- The latest advice on prescribing, dispensing and administering drugs and medicines
- Up-to-date guidance on disease treatments, disease management and therapeutics
- The latest advice on analysing, formulating and preparing drugs, medicines and other pharmaceutical products
- Over 100,000 references to original research, scientific papers, reports and case studies
What is included in MedicinesComplete?The following publications and drug references are incorporated in MedicinesComplete:
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Improvements in version 3
The MedicinesComplete search interface has been improved with a modern and sharp new look, and it provides better search functionality for users. There is an increased prominence given to features that will help users navigate quickly to crucial drug information.
Users can use the cross-publication search function to search results from all publications in a single screen, thus determining which publications contain results best suited to their needs.
The document view has been improved so that users can move between relevant sections easily without losing their place within the document. This is made possible by the inclusion of an article contents bar that remains visible throughout the viewing session.
The improved positioning of precision search limits, such as adverse effects, precautions, interactions and disease treatment reviews, allows users to locate relevant documents and passages quickly. These limits are shown alongside the results, which allows users to drill down to the desired results.
Version 3 of MedicinesComplete provides a user-friendly display of controlled vocabulary, which allows users to refine or broaden their search results through the numerous publications and references.
Organisations that subscribe to Medicines-Complete may now choose to include their own branding within the MedicinesComplete service. This draws attention towards the organisation as the provider of the resource for users. The branding remains on all pages throughout the search session.
In many publications, the references included in MedicinesComplete are “open URL compatible”, which allows users direct online access to a reference text. This enhances research productivity since information is accessible from the same search session.
Who are the intended users?
The combined databases of Medicines-Complete could be useful to a wide range of academics and healthcare professionals, as well as related companies and organisations (eg, pharmacists, pharmacologists, toxicologists, analytical chemists, pharmaceutical companies, drug information centres, doctors, nurses, academics, researchers, etc).
Geoff Moon, digital products manager at the Pharmaceutical Press, said the majority of users of MedicinesComplete are in corporate, healthcare and academic sectors.
He added that, by bringing together a selection of trusted publications under one powerful search interface, MedicinesComplete provides pharmacists and other healthcare professionals convenient access to authoritative, unbiased drug information with global reach.
Gus Olivares, global sales manager, digital content, the Pharmaceutical Press, commented that there are subscribers to MedicinesComplete in over 70 countries worldwide, with the majority subscribed to ‘Martindale: the complete drug reference’.
Also, Mr Olivares mentioned that MedicinesComplete is used widely in Europe, the US, Australasia and the Middle East.
