Elsevier launches wireless access to clinical database for hospital physicians and students.

Welcome to the dawn of wireless newsletters and specialized information, a development that the prescient Al Goodloe predicted in his June 2003 speech at the Newsletter & Electronic Publishers Association international conference.

Through FIRST Consult, Elsevier is now offering hospital physicians full wireless access to evidence-based, clinical information without having to leave their patient's side. This is the industry's first and only handheld decision support tool designed specifically for point-of-care and integration with a hospital network, enabling physicians and students full access to all resources and information available on FIRST Consult.

This offering aligns with Elsevier's commitment to expand the electronic products within the MD Consult Clinical Knowledge System, the company's premiere online medical information system for physicians and medical students.

New product is response to wired hospitals

In the U.S., the number of wireless hospitals continues to grow, with approximately 60 percent of hospitals wired today. That growth is the reason Elsevier designed FIRST Consult specifically for the point-of-care environment; the technology integrates with wireless computing systems that are already in place.

The content is specifically formatted for a handheld device. Current wireless offerings need to be adapted from pre-existing systems and are often cumbersome to use. FIRST Consult is compliant with the latest Wi-Fi technologies, offering significant cost savings for hospital administrators, since they do not have to upgrade their networks.

Until now, most wireless subscription programs have been limited to dating services and downloading games and music.