OpenEvidence is the medical app most of you already have open. This is how to use it without getting sloppy. Short version. The four questions still apply.
Ask a real question. Put the specialty, the setting, and what you want back. “Prostate cancer PSMA, community clinic, what does the guideline actually say about the next scan interval” will beat “what do I do next.” You get a better answer when you ask the question you would ask a colleague in the hallway.
Open the citations. Every answer is supposed to sit on peer-reviewed sources. Click them. If the sentence in the answer is not in the paper or the guideline, you do not have an answer. You have a fluent paragraph. The product is the source list, not the summary.
Do not paste the chart. As of April 2025 they will sign a BAA and they say you can put PHI in. That does not mean you should dump the note. You almost never need a name, an MRN, or a date of birth to get a useful answer. Ask the clinical question. Leave the identifiers out. If you do put PHI in, you are on their BAA, and that is a contract you should have actually read.
Watch the Share button. Threads are private by default. Share can email a conversation or make a public link. Never make a public link if any patient detail is in that thread.
It is not a consult. It is a search with a synthesis. It does not examine the patient. It does not sign the plan. If you cannot show where a sentence came from, do not file it. Fluency does not transfer authority.
CME is extra, not the point. If you are NPI verified, you can turn a question you already asked into free CME or CE, but only after you finish the reflection. The search alone is not the credit. Do not let the credit change what you ask.
If it saves you a hunt through PubMed and you still check the source, keep it. If you are copying the answer into the note unread, turn it off.
More to come!