Wolters Kluwer Health Introduces 'Indispensible' Pocket Guide for Outpatient Medicine Providers

PHILADELPHIA, April 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry, today launched Pocket Primary Care, a pocket-sized guidebook designed specifically for healthcare providers in outpatient settings.  Developed by a team of expert physicians at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, this soon-to-be-indispensible reference continues the hospital's rich tradition of developing point-of-care guidebooks that bring the most current, evidence-based practices to the bedside. 

"Pocket Primary Care was written to be the most useful pocket guide ever made for outpatient internal medicine providers," said Curtis R. Chong, MD, PhD, MPhil, a graduate of the Massachusetts General Hospital internal medicine residency program and co-editor of Pocket Primary Care.  "Written by 215 alumni, residents and faculty of the Massachusetts General Hospital, it incorporates 187 chapters with over 2,600 references in a pocketbook that may easily be used at the bedside."

Pocket Primary Care was modeled after the best-selling hospital-based pocket reference, Pocket Medicine: The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Internal Medicine by Marc S. Sabatine, MD.  To develop the guide, expert opinions were solicited from world-renowned specialists and primary care physicians associated with the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.  The authors asked each specialist what they wanted primary care providers to know about their particular area of expertise—boiled down into one page or less.  

"The result is a book that offers high-caliber specialist input while maintaining the primary care provider's perspective," said co-editor Meghan M. Kiefer, MD, MPH, an MGH alumni now at the University of Washington.  "Rather than speaking in general terms, Pocket Primary Care offers practical, evidence-based approaches to commonly encountered problems in the outpatient setting.  It is designed to help primary care providers and specialists take ownership of their patients' health needs."

This first edition covers details such as what to prescribe, dosages and other practical advice and guides primary care providers on when to refer a patient.  "'What should I manage and what do I need to refer to a specialist?' is a question asked often by primary care physicians," said Dr. Kiefer.  "Pocket Primary Care helps answer it for each treatment area."

Medical students, residents and other trainees will benefit from Pocket Primary Care's thousands of references, which were carefully selected to represent the latest in evidence-based outpatient medicine.  The guide also includes direct links to hundreds of patient-information handouts from leading medical journals.

Pocket Primary Care helps the busy clinician quickly find information they need at the bedside using tabs and a sturdy, six-ring binder.  The book covers many of the most common issues seen in outpatient practice, including preventive medicine, cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology, GI, hematology, infectious disease, musculoskeletal complaints, neurology, ophthalmology, ENT, psychiatry, pulmonary, nephrology, women's health, men's health and geriatrics.

Readers also have the option to purchase Pocket Primary Care as in an eBook powered by Inkling™, which includes a multitude of interactive multimedia features. This digital version offers customized navigation and a powerful, index-based search capability to provide quick results using iPad tablets and iPhones, Android devices, or through a computer browser.  Features include rapid index-based search options that link to a newly created index, bookmarking, cross-linking of relevant content, and the ability to cut-and-paste.

Published by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins (LWW), part of Wolters Kluwer Health, the print edition of Pocket Primary Care is available now for $52.99.  The eBook is available separately also for $52.99 through iTunes, Google Play, and the Inkling store.  An eBook also is available for Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook.  For more information or to purchase, visit LWW.com/PocketPrimaryCare.

Inkling™ is a trademark of Inkling Systems, Inc.

About Wolters Kluwer Health
Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading global provider of information, business intelligence and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry. Serving more than 150 countries worldwide, clinicians rely on Wolters Kluwer Health's market leading information-enabled tools and software solutions throughout their professional careers from training to research to practice. Major brands include Health Language^®, Lexicomp^®, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Medicom^®, Medi-Span^®, Medknow, Ovid^®, Pharmacy OneSource^®, ProVation^® Medical and UpToDate^®.

Wolters Kluwer Health is part of Wolters Kluwer, a market-leading global information services company. Wolters Kluwer had 2013 annual revenues of €3.6 billion (US$4.7 billion), employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide, and maintains operations in over 40 countries across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. Follow our official Twitter handle: @WKHealth.

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SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Health