About DynaMed Decisions

Mission and Purpose

DynaMed Decisions is a clinical decision support solution that helps you deliver personalized, evidence-based care efficiently. Backed by EBSCO’s rigorous evidence-based methodology, our tools reduce cognitive burden, support meaningful patient engagement, and guide shared decision-making at the point of care. Developed by experts and continuously updated, DynaMed Decisions offers risk calculators and treatment guidance across 30+ specialties – personalized to the patient and grounded in the latest evidence.

Editorial and EBM Policies

Evidence-Based Methodology (EBM)

EBSCO’s evidence-based methodology for clinical solutions is the foundation underlying all of DynaMed Decisions’ content. We continuously and systematically identify, summarize, interpret, and synthesize the best-available literature and adjust conclusions and guidance based on this dynamic, ever-growing evidence ecosystem, coupled with clinical expertise and incorporation of patient values and preferences whenever relevant. Details on our evidence-based methodology can be found here.

Editorial Process

DynaMed Decisions’ editorial policy is to provide clinicians with evidence-based, interactive tools to use at the point of care. The tool development process includes over 30 steps. An abbreviated overview of the tool development process is provided below:

  • Step 1: Prioritization – DynaMed Decisions leadership identifies tool needs. When prioritizing topics, we consider internal and external requests, topics that address top health concerns, and topics that build out more cohesive specialty suites.
  • Step 2: Scoping – The topic then undergoes a scoping process to identify the tool purpose, eligibility criteria, and components of the tool, such as clinical calculation or decision pathway. Scoping also includes a dedicated effort to delineate any complexities or challenges in the existing literature and identify how those things will be addressed when creating the tool.
  • Step 3: Evidence search and analysis – In this next step, we identify relevant evidence, including clinical practice guidelines and peer-reviewed literature. We have partnered with McMaster University to develop systematic literature searches for our tools within a proprietary system. This system allows us to search content in DynaMedex and to conduct supplemental searches within PubMed. Evidence is critically appraised and synthesized using GRADE methods.
  • Step 4: Build and review tool – The draft tool is built and reviewed internally. Our clinical decision support (CDS) tools go through several rounds of “functional review” to ensure the tool is working as intended. Our shared decision-making (SDM) tools are evaluated to ensure we meet plain language principles and criteria for the International Patient Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS).
  • Step 5: External review – The draft tool is sent to external reviewers, including a generalist and specialist in the topic area, for review of clinical accuracy and relevance.
  • Step 6: Editorial team review – External review feedback is resolved, and the tool is reviewed again for overall style and functionality. Additionally, for our CDS tools, any calculations performed within the tool are confirmed through a quality control process.
  • Step 7: Testing and approval – In this step, CDS tools undergo final approval by DynaMed Decisions leadership, copyedit, and programmatic, end-to-end testing prior to being released. SDM tools undergo testing for readability via a marketing platform. Edits are incorporated, as needed, based on user feedback and then the SDM tool undergoes final approval by leadership and copyedit prior to being released to product.

Statement on AI Transparency

DynaMed Decisions considers transparency with regard to the use of artificial intelligence to be of the utmost importance. DynaMed Decisions does not use AI and utilizes only predictive models that have been published in peer-reviewed literature in any of its tooling. (Any predictive model used in a DynaMed Decisions tool is noted in the References section and is also clearly indicated both in the frontmatter of the tool and in the “Assessment” section where the results of the predictive model are displayed.)

DynaMed Decisions tools and their output are not included in any responses presented by Dyna AI (the AI tool embedded in and solely available as an add-on within DynaMed, DynaMedex and Dynamic Health). This aligns with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) HTI-1 final rule, which establishes transparency requirements surrounding use of AI and other predictive algorithms.

Health Equity and Inclusion

DynaMed Decisions aligns with DynaMedex’s policies on health equity and inclusion to provide the most helpful information to healthcare professionals at the point of care to improve health outcomes worldwide regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, age, national origin and/or culture, socioeconomics, mental or physical abilities, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression. DynaMed Decisions has implemented procedures for handling race and ethnicity, and sex and gender in tools, and we manage these constructs on a tool-by-tool basis to promote inclusivity.

Conflict of Interest Policy

All DynaMed Decisions editors and reviewers have declared no conflicts of interest. All individuals involved in editorial work are required to disclose financial conflicts of interest. Any potential conflicts of interest are reviewed and managed according to DynaMed LLC’s Disclosure of Competing Interests Policy, more about which can be found here. Development of DynaMed Decisions tools is fully supported by EBSCO with no external funding.