Krames On-Demand (KOD)

Krames On-Demand is a patient education system that allows clinicians and staff access to comprehensive patient education in thirty-seven specialty areas. Krames On-Demand is part of The StayWell Company, a provider of consumer health information products and services. Krames On-Demand is known for their collection of HealthSheets, patient education sheets with colorful graphics, easy readability levels, and clinician input. Currently, more than 4,400 single-topic HealthSheets are available on numerous health topics such as “What Does the Brain Do” and “How to Breastfeed,” conditions, procedures, self-care, and health prevention. More than 2,200 of the sheets are available in English and Spanish with some sheets available in other languages. The HealthSheets contain the latest up-to-date information and help practices meet regulations of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). Krames On-Demand also has HealthSheets on 10 health care basic titles accessible in 10 languages. The HealthSheets are easily accessible via Browse or Keyword Search. Additional subsets of specialized HealthSheets can be purchased separate from the package. Clinicians can use Krames On-Demand to create folders to manage and educate patients and/or specific health conditions. Clinicians can personalize the HealthSheets to suit individual patients, the patients’ care plans, and the clinicans’ practice through accounts, group, or user management with Custom Content Builder. The Bookmark feature allows clinicians to access HealthSheets rapidly. The HealthSheets can be easily printed or emailed to patients. Clinicians can access Medications in 3 ways: name, indication, and classification. Medications is a comprehensive drug reference with more than 33,000 descriptions of over-the-counter products, prescriptions, and nutraceuticals in English and Spanish. The materials are written at 6th-to-8th-grade reading level; generic and brand name medications are cross-referenced. Krames Online Library is the patient education library. For institutions that subscribe to Krames On-Demand, Krames Online Library is necessary because it complements the HealthSheets and Medications, providing patients with reliable patient education information. Users will find the design, usability, and ease of navigation of Krames On-Demand quick to grasp. Krames On-Demand is user friendly and offers constant support. The Information icon keeps users aware of new features and services. Hospitals and practices will find it a useful tool in disseminating patient education and managing care plans. For consumer health libraries or hospitals, the Krames On-Demand Kiosk, a self-service resource where users can print off selected HealthSheets, would be a valuable asset in meeting the demand for patient education materials. Krames On-Demand is not without drawbacks such as the high cost for small libraries, which are predominantly hospital and consumer libraries and may not be well funded. The number of HealthSheets available in other languages is disappointing. The demand for patient education information in various languages is at a high and will continue given the diversity of medical communities. MedlinePlus and other health Websites such as The 24 Languages Project are more effective in providing health information in other languages and without a cost.