The Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons (SLS) announces JSLS Anywhere, a new Apple/Android tool of its medical journal of minimally invasive surgery research. It is the first of its kind in the medical journal industry, and is available to download for free to all SLS members.
JSLS has repeatedly placed in the top 100 of 15,000 scientific publications on IngentaConnect for full-text downloads. In 2015 JSLS had over 1.2 million downloads from PubMed Central, making it the most well read journal in minimally invasive surgery. Busy surgeons around the world can now access JSLS research with or without Internet access — on planes, public transport, and in all corners of the hospital.
“With JSLS Anywhere, I can access, download, and share JSLS research quickly, which is important when it’s related to what I’m doing,” says Dr. Larry Glazerman, obstetrician-gynecologist, who was a part of the focus group to test the new technology. “I pick and choose carefully what I add to my desktop—but this is one piece of technology I’m happy to have.”
Smartphones have been shown to offer significant benefits for health care providers in terms of improved communication and ready access to practice guidelines and research data. SLS is betting that having new research at the touch of a finger will be popular among its members.
Today’s smartphone users in the U.S. spend an average of 4.5 hours a day on their phones. The majority of air passengers will have at least one electronic device with them while they fly, and busy surgeons are no exception. Mobile electronic devices are an integral part of the physician’s life, commonly used for personal and professional scheduling, as well as accessing medical files, drug information, and emails.
“The bottom line is that we want to save our surgeons time,” says SLS Founder and Chair Dr. Paul Wetter. “The average busy surgeon needs to be able to access our research quickly and easily in today’s health care environment. JSLS Anywhere provides a convenience that has been made possible by Apple technology.”
SLS’ new product debuts at a time when adopting the electronic option in order to have less environmental impact is becoming more of a trend, too. Electronic journaling is easier on the environment, as no paper, inks or other distribution resources are required.
