At Wolters Kluwer, we believe that AI tools must be built on curated, evidence-derived content—not just data. As we evolve UpToDate®, our focus remains on delivering content that reflects the integrity of clinical knowledge, not just the capabilities of technology.
Speed without substance is a risk
Clinicians today face an overwhelming volume of medical information; and the challenge isn’t just access—it’s discernment. Clinical decisions require reliability, context, and accountability. These decisions must be grounded in fact and evidence, not probabilistic technology.
In clinical AI, that means being able to trace a recommendation back to the evidence and expert judgment that informed it. Verification isn’t optional—it’s foundational. That’s why provenance isn’t a technical detail; it’s a clinical imperative.
The three pillars of provenance
1. Origins: Building on trusted knowledge foundations
There’s a common misperception that if AI could summarise all medical literature in real time, clinicians would make better decisions. But clinical reasoning isn’t just about synthesis—it’s knowing which information matters, when, and why. No technology today can make those distinctions independently.
Our GenAI functionality, UpToDate Expert AI, is grounded in UpToDate’s clinical content. The underlying editorial process for such content is not just rigorous—it’s intentional and anticipatory, designed to reflect the clinical scenarios that users face.
Every line of the underlying UpToDate clinical content in which UpToDate Expert AI is grounded is expert-authored, peer-reviewed, and regularly updated. Each study added to UpToDate is vetted for its relevance, alignment with clinical context, methodological soundness, readiness to inform or change practice, and balanced consideration of risks and benefits.
2. Derivation: How insights are transparently created
Rather than applying generic technology to large volumes of content, systems built for clinicians should reflect how clinicians think, prioritise, and make decisions.
Transparency is equally critical. Clinicians must be able to see how the system arrived at an answer—not just the output, but the reasoning behind it.
And traceability must be frictionless. Verification remains immediate, intuitive, and essential.
3. Accountability: Clinical expertise behind every insight
The design of a generative system is not neutral—it reflects the judgment, experience, and intent of the people who build it. Strong systems aren’t just technology applied to content; they’re shaped by teams who understand both clinical practice and the capabilities of AI.
This type of work requires hybrid skills and leadership. It demands fluency in evidence-based medicine, critical thinking, and openness to create meaningful knowledge in new ways. Our approach is grounded in close collaboration between clinicians and technologists, working together. Every element is mapped to the clinical reasoning process and reinforced by safeguards designed to promote patient safety.
What sets our system apart is the depth and breadth of clinical expertise behind it. At the heart of UpToDate Expert AI is a dedicated team of practicing physicians and pharmacists with backgrounds in specialty care, hospital administration, patient safety, medical education, publishing, and content technology. Their work draws on a broad foundation, the global UpToDate network of over 7,600 contributors—established leaders in their fields—supported by an internal faculty of physician editors trained in evidence-based methodology.
This collective experience is not just a credential—in medicine, having your name on the work signals responsibility, ownership, and a commitment to quality. Conversely, systems that function anonymously risk eroding trust. By making the expertise behind the system visible, we reinforce the principle that GenAI in medicine must be built not only with technical skill, but with integrity.
Our whitepaper, “Building the bridge—Generative AI and the future of clinical knowledge,” covers our perspective on how tools like UpToDate Expert AI are building the bridge between shifts in clinical knowledge gathering and innovation. Download it for more insights.
