UpToDate Global Health Initiative
In keeping with our mission to help clinicians around the world provide the best possible patient care, UpToDate actively supports a global health initiative with the following components:
- Development of new content to address the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of conditions affecting individuals in resource-limited settings around the world.
- Participation in studies and initiatives that enable better understanding of the need for clinical decision support and more efficient delivery of our solution.
- Implementation of free UpToDate access for regions with urgent need following natural disasters or viral outbreaks.
- A donations program administered in partnership with Global Health Delivery (GHD) for sites outside of the United States and the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) for sites within the United States.
To apply for a donation, please click the appropriate link below.
Listen as two physicians from Haiti share how access to UpToDate impacts care.
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To apply for a donated subscription to be used outside of the United States, click here. |
To apply for a donated subscription to be used within the United States, click here. |
International Outreach
UpToDate partners with GHD to improve the quality of healthcare provided around the world. Ideal candidates for the international donations program provide medical care or education to poor or underserved populations, are in a position to use UpToDate to make a positive impact on their community, and are otherwise unable to pay for a subscription or receive access through their institution(s).
In 2017, 5148 individual subscriptions and 71 institutional subscriptions were donated to qualifying clinicians and organizations who provide medical care or related services to poor or underserved populations around the world. Through this donated access, an estimated 6900 clinicians and their colleagues used UpToDate in 120 countries; these providers cared for an estimated 690,000 patients each month, and over 8 million patients yearly.
Global Impact
The UpToDate donations program has provided free access in regions with urgent need following natural disasters, such as Nepal following the devastating earthquakes of 2015. Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea also received donated nationwide access following the Ebola outbreak in 2015, and cholera content became freely available in August of 2017 in response to the cholera outbreak in Yemen.
A study to evaluate the use of UpToDate in three resource-limited settings (Rwanda, Malawi, and South Africa) was published in 2012 and demonstrated broad usage of UpToDate topics, with the majority of clinicians reporting that UpToDate led to improved quality of care. GHD is also currently conducting a study in select medical schools in Tanzania and Rwanda that will evaluate the impact of UpToDate on medical education over the course of five years.
View a full list of topics we have created or modified for resource-limited settings and a list of active donated subscriptions by region.