DynaMed vs UpToDate (2026)
Both are established point of care references that added a generative layer on top of their own content. DynaMed, from EBSCO, rests on a stated seven step evidence method with daily literature surveillance by a named clinical team, and Dyna AI, introduced in July 2024 as an add on, answers questions by retrieving from DynaMed's content. UpToDate, from Wolters Kluwer, is written by more than 7,600 physician authors and editors and reports use by more than three million clinicians. Its Expert AI, launched in September 2025, is a conversational assistant that draws only on UpToDate's authored content. The AI layers work the same way, grounded in each publisher's own reference. The choice is mostly about which editorial method and which content a clinical team already trusts.
- A point of care reference from EBSCO built on a stated seven step evidence method.
- Daily systematic surveillance of the literature by a named clinical team.
- Dyna AI, a retrieval based assistant sold as an add on since July 2024 and extended in February 2026.
- More than 7,600 physician authors and editors behind the content.
- Expert AI, launched September 2025, answering only from UpToDate's own content.
- Reported use by more than three million clinicians.
This comparison is published by AI Health Index, an independent research platform that compares healthcare AI vendors objectively. DynaMed and UpToDate are each graded against the same capability taxonomy, from each vendor's own public materials and the regulatory record, under the AI Health Index verification standard. No vendor pays for placement, and no vendor has reviewed this page. How this evidence is graded
Plain facts
| Fact | DynaMed | UpToDate |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Clinical Reference & Evidence | Clinical Reference & Evidence |
| Headquarters | Ipswich, Massachusetts | Waltham, Massachusetts |
| Website | dynamed.com | wolterskluwer.com |
Side by Side
Select any grade to read the note behind it.
Product updates
The latest logged changes from each vendor, newest first, each linked to its source.
DynaMed
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Product / capability
DynaMed's iOS app version 6.2 adds videos throughout the app, opened directly inside topics, search results and Dyna AI answers, with swiping between related images and videos.
Source
UpToDate
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Pricing / packaging
UpToDate Expert AI's iOS app version 2.5.0 is now available as a 14 day free trial, up from the 7 day trial added in August, and the listing shows an in app personal subscription at $89.
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Product / capability
Wolters Kluwer expanded its generative AI solution, UpToDate Expert AI, by integrating comprehensive medication data from UpToDate Lexidrug.
Source
Each vendor in one paragraph
Written to be quoted whole. Each paragraph opens the AI Health Index profile of the vendor: what the product is, who buys it and what it does.
Point of care disease reference from EBSCO Clinical Decisions, part of EBSCO Information Services. Content rests on a stated seven step evidence based methodology with daily systematic literature surveillance, edited by a named clinical team.
Source: AI Health Index, September 2026
Clinical reference and decision support published by Wolters Kluwer Health and in market for more than thirty years, with content curated by over 7,600 physician authors and editors and reported use by more than three million clinicians across thousands of hospitals worldwide.
Source: AI Health Index, September 2026
Questions buyers ask
How do DynaMed and UpToDate work with the EHR?
The practicing clinicians page describes DynaMed Decisions tools that surface guideline recommendations based on each patient's data. Across the product line the named methods include embedded links, search box widgets, the HL7 Infobutton context retrieval API, a web services API, single sign on and a mobile app; Infobutton is the standard built for surfacing reference content in context from inside the record.
With UpToDate, patient education material is offered in up to nineteen languages, which is a real interoperability property in a multilingual health system. The company's release of 3 June 2026 states that more than half of United States Enterprise Edition customers, approximately 2,000 hospitals, had signed up for the Expert AI version by 30 April 2026, so the generative layer is reaching the chart through the same route. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified September 29, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
How are DynaMed and UpToDate priced and sold?
EBSCO's DynaMed pages offer a free trial and a newsletter sign up, individual subscriptions are sold through the DynaMed site, and EBSCO has announced Dyna AI for DynaMedex individual subscribers.
For UpToDate, enterprise pricing, which is what a health system buys and the tier that reaches most clinicians, is gated behind a sales conversation. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified September 29, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
How do DynaMed and UpToDate handle patient data?
DynaMed Decisions takes patient data through a SMART on FHIR integration to pre populate decision aids and calculators, and that module is where retention and use questions land. Nothing published says how long queries and captured Dyna AI conversations are kept, whether they are used to train or tune any model, or what deidentification applies.
The terms of use state that UpToDate and its licensors are not intended to receive, transmit, store or process protected health information under HIPAA, which places the product outside the patient data relationship by contract. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified September 29, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
Which settings and specialties do DynaMed and UpToDate cover?
The family covers distinct segments: DynaMed for disease and condition reference, Dynamic Health for nursing and allied health, and DynaMedex adding Micromedex drug content for care teams and pharmacy, with DynaMed Decisions for patient specific risk tools and shared decision making. Continuing education and maintenance of certification credit accrue from use, and a clinician can affiliate with several organizations.
With UpToDate, the trainee and medical university segments are substantial, and continuing medical education accrues inside the AI product, so the product serves workforce and training as well. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified September 29, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
Related comparisons
Other published head to head assessments involving these vendors or their closest peers. The full set for this category is on the Clinical Reference & Evidence page.
Both records were reviewed on this site in September 2026. Both sell subscriptions; neither publishes enterprise pricing.
Ask both how their AI answer is checked against the reference topic it draws on, and what happens when the two disagree.