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Many years ago hospital systems employed librarians who acquired articles for medical staff. Costs associated with maintaining a library were at least partiall
by jrapdx3 10y ago
Many years ago hospital systems employed librarians who acquired articles for medical staff. Costs associated with maintaining a library were at least partially offset by fees physicians paid to be "on staff" at a hospital (or group of them). BTW those fees were typically on the order of several hundred dollars/year.
Of course, among small-medium size hospital systems the libraries are long gone. Some of the largest or those affiliated with universities may still have access in some form. It's an ironic development that so much more research is going on, yet less available to practitioners on the front lines.
- chris_wot 10y agoEven more ironically, the actual distribution mechanism is hundreds of times less expensive, more efficient and rapid way of providing access to the material!
- hanklazard 10y agoAnd that's not even taking into account the thousands of docs in the US who work out of private practices and community health centers.
- jrapdx3 10y agoMany (most?) primary care docs work for large clinics which are often owned by hospital systems. IOW practice environments that tend to be driven by "productivity" stats, and refined clinical knowledge is not the highest priority. Don't know about public/community clinics, but given the chronic underfunding of these agencies amenities like library services are unlikely.