In the epoch of the Internet, prescribers have access to multiple sources of information about medications that can assist them in making the safest and most effective decisions for patients’ needs. For the resource to be trustworthy and facilitate a problem-solving process, it needs to be comprehensive, concise, and up to date (Clayton & Willihnganz, 2016). Moreover, it should have an extensive collection of databases containing detailed drug information and should be accessible via smartphone so that professionals can use it anywhere and anytime they have to make a prescription or provide patients with necessary guidelines (Loeffler & Gim, 2014).
Lexicomp Online is a unique solution for healthcare professionals including pharmacists, doctors, and nurses. Its major advantage is that it gives users access to two resources that provide medication descriptions within a single website (Lauffenburger et al., 2013):
- Lexicomp – provides comprehensible, well-structured, and complete information on drug dosing, forms of dosage, administration, warnings, precautionary measures, side effects including various allergic and adverse reactions, clinical practice guidelines, off-label uses, compatibility with other medications, and other kinds of useful information
- AHFS – provides reliable information on various types of medications, assists in research solution, and is accepted as a CMS compendium
The growing popularity of Lexicomp Online is explained by its wide variety of databases that contain data on numerous topics. Besides drug prescription information, the source also provides guidelines on adult and geriatric care, pregnancy and lactation, international innovations in health care, contagious diseases, injections, and more (Gaudette, 2015).
The major advantages of Lexicomp Online include the following (Chang et al., 2016):
- Fast and extensive answers on a wide range of questions, increasing efficiency. It has been proven by a number of studies that Lexicomp makes it easier and faster for healthcare providers to find the necessary information on complicated issues concerning drug prescription. Compared to other common databases, it does not as take much time for healthcare providers to understand how to use the resource, which increases its efficiency.
- Formulary management support information and tools. The Fact & Comparisons section of Lexicomp contains valuable instructions and tools that support the formulary decision-making process: comparative data tools, the Formulary Monograph Service, class monographs, and other useful instruments that can be applied in clinical settings by a number of healthcare professionals.
- Higher user satisfaction. Researchers place Lexicomp Online at the top of the databases list in terms of its ability to satisfy the overwhelming majority of users, who find it both more convenient and informative than other similar resources.
- The broader scope of application. Lexicomp is universal for two major reasons: first, it can be used by all healthcare professionals including doctors, pharmacists, and nurses; second, the application is available for most mobile platforms.
- UpToDate reference. Lexicomp Online allows for direct switching to any UpToDate resource without additional searching. This linking makes it possible for healthcare providers to make the most effective clinical decision without interrupting their workflow. Switching between the two resources can be useful in the process of studying complicated diseases that require research before making treatment decisions.
The only major limitation that Lexicomp has is its price. The application currently costs $285 per 1-year subscription, which is adequate for the quality of the information provided by the resource but is still rather high. I personally find Lexicomp very useful after trying its 30-day free trial period and can fully estimate the advantages it features. I currently have a subscription for 3 years, which turns out to be more cost-effective (at $570 in total) and frequently resort to its help in clinical settings.
References
Chang, J. S., Pham, D. A., Dang, M. T., Lu, Y., VanOsdol, S., & Shin, J. (2016). Evaluation of popular drug information resources on clinically useful and actionable pharmacogenomic information. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 104(1), 58-61.
Clayton, B. D., & Willihnganz, M. (2016). Basic pharmacology for nurses. New York, NY: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Gaudette, R. F. (2015). Are you connected to the best Apps?. The Consultant Pharmacist, 30(11), 634-642.
Lauffenburger, J. C., Balasubramanian, A., Farley, J. F., Critchlow, C. W., O’Malley, C. D., Roth, M. T.,… Brookhart, M. A. (2013). Completeness of prescription information in US commercial claims databases. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, 22(8), 899-906.
Loeffler, L., & Gim, S. (2014). An overview of electronic drug information resources. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 10(6), 435-436.