British Medical Journal (BMJ) India conducted the third edition of BMJ Conclave, in Bengaluru this year, through two parallel and separate tracks: Effectiveness of Clinical Decision Support in Clinical Outcomes and E-resources within Libraries.

The objective of conducting this event was to debate how medical institutions and hospitals can improve healthcare quality through the use of modern tools, such as, clinical decision support systems. The Chief Guest for the clinicians’ session was Dr S Sachidanand, Vice Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) and the Guest of Honour was Dr. H. Veerabhadrappa, President, Karnataka Medical Council. The speakers of the session were Dr. George Noel Fernandes, Medical Director, Continental Hospital and Dr Alben Sigamani, Group Head - Clinical Research, Narayana Healthcare.

The event was attended by many doctors from medical institutions across Bengaluru and hospitals of repute. Delegates, speakers and dignitaries appreciated the utility and importance of BMJ Best Practice, a clinical decision support tool presented by BMJ and demonstrated at the conference.

The theme for the library session was E-Resources within Libraries: Access & Availability. This session focused on the maximizing usage of e-resources within medical institutions and ways on improving the availability and accessibility. The speakers of Librarian session were R Rathinasabapati, Senior Library and Information Officer, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis & Dr Siva Chidambaram, Chief Librarian, B.B. Dikshit Library, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi BMJ, through its conclave, endeavours to present a platform that would help debate and discuss how clinical decision support tools are transforming patient care and improving patient outcomes. Through the parallel track for librarians, BMJ hopes to generate ideas on maximizing the benefits of access of e-resources within healthcare institutions.

On the occasion, Prashant Mishra, Managing Director, BMJ India & South Asia, said, “It gives us immense pleasure to organize the third edition of BMJ Conclave in Bengaluru. We wish to work closely with the stakeholders in the state medical infrastructure to drive the widespread implementation of clinical decision support systems (CDSS). BMJ has been a champion of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) movement, offering resources such as our journal Evidence Based Medicine and our point of care tool, BMJ Best Practice. Through this program we wish to increase the awareness about EBM and CDSS adoption in India. We hope this platform helps us to identify the challenges faced for widespread adoption of CDSS and helps make healthcare delivery more EBM-centric and patient-focused.”