AskMed vs UpToDate Expert AI

What is UpToDate Expert AI?

UpToDate Expert AI is a generative AI clinical decision support tool from Wolters Kluwer Health, announced on September 24, 2025, that answers clinical questions in a conversational chat. Wolters Kluwer says UpToDate Expert AI draws exclusively from UpToDate's maintained clinical content rather than the open web, shows the sources behind each answer and links back to the UpToDate topics it used. In November 2025, Wolters Kluwer added about 3,000 drug topics from UpToDate Lexidrug, written and curated by pharmacists and clinical experts. UpToDate Expert AI is built for enterprise-wide deployment and can be embedded in electronic health records and other clinical software. In August 2026, Wolters Kluwer reported about 2,500 US hospitals and health systems using UpToDate Expert AI, more than 90% of its US Enterprise Edition customers, plus pilots at more than 230 sites in 36 countries. A separate UpToDate Expert AI app for iPhone, iPad and Android needs an UpToDate subscription with Expert AI enabled.

Where answers come from

AskMed and UpToDate Expert AI answer from different libraries, and that is the biggest difference between the two. UpToDate Expert AI summarizes UpToDate itself: expert-written topic reviews that UpToDate's editors and authors update as they review new journal articles, clinical trials and drug labeling, plus Lexidrug drug topics. Every UpToDate Expert AI answer therefore reflects what UpToDate's editors have already written. AskMed searches the medical literature and guidelines directly: PubMed, the Cochrane Library, NEJM, The Lancet, JAMA and The BMJ for research, NICE, WHO and CDC for guidelines, and official drug labels. AskMed ranks guidelines first, then systematic reviews and meta-analyses, prefers sources from the last 10 years, and links each claim to the source's exact web address. If AskMed finds no usable medical source, AskMed says so instead of answering from memory. UpToDate is not among the sources AskMed searches, so the two tools can sit side by side. For other options, see our list of UpToDate alternatives.

Drug facts from the label

AskMed answers drug questions from official drug labels, the prescribing information approved by the regulator, while UpToDate Expert AI answers drug questions from about 3,000 UpToDate Lexidrug drug topics. Lexidrug is a drug reference written by pharmacists, and Wolters Kluwer says its drug content is built from primary literature, product labeling, pharmacology studies and clinical trials. A drug monograph is still a summary of those sources, while the label is the document the regulator approved, with the indications, contraindications, boxed warnings, interactions and adverse reactions in the approved wording. AskMed reads FDA labels and DailyMed, and for local brand names AskMed also checks official drug registries from many countries, such as the EMA and the UK's medicines.org.uk, so a brand name sold in Europe or the UK leads to the right label. Each drug claim in AskMed links to the label's exact web address, so a pharmacist or nurse can open the label. AskMed gives no doses; exact amounts come from the current label.

Who can get each one?

Anyone who works or studies in medicine can sign up for AskMed in any country, while personal access to UpToDate Expert AI depends on where you live and which UpToDate plan you hold. Wolters Kluwer sells the personal plans that include UpToDate Expert AI, UpToDate Pro Plus and the trainee subscription, in the United States and Canada, and the UpToDate app listing on the App Store describes Expert AI as available in select packages. Other clinicians reach UpToDate Expert AI through an employer's UpToDate Enterprise Edition, and Wolters Kluwer reports pilots at more than 230 sites in 36 countries. AskMed needs no institution, no US license and no NPI. AskMed is built for doctors in every specialty, residents, medical students, nurses, pharmacists and researchers, and AskMed answers in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese and Arabic. One AskMed account works on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web, so a question asked on a phone during a shift can be reread on a laptop later.

You choose the sources

AskMed lets you choose which sources an answer may use, and Wolters Kluwer's pages don't describe source controls for UpToDate Expert AI, whose answers always come from UpToDate content. AskMed's source filters turn journals, guidelines, drug labels or medical references on or off for a question, and pick study types, from systematic reviews and meta-analyses to clinical trials. A slider sets how many sources AskMed uses, from 3 to 12, with 8 by default. Research Mode goes further and reads up to 20 papers for one question before AskMed answers, which helps when the evidence sits in the literature rather than in a guideline: a gap in the guidelines, a patient who doesn't match the trial population, or a newer treatment with mixed results. You can also attach a PDF or an image, and AskMed cites your file for what the file itself says. Every claim still links to a source you can open and check.

Exam prep built in

AskMed includes Exam Prep for 10 licensing exams, and Wolters Kluwer's pages don't describe exam question banks in UpToDate Expert AI. AskMed's question banks cover PLAB, USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK, PLE, EDN, UKOMNAS, NEET-PG, ENARM, TUS, Ghana MDC and Israel MLE. Each bank is written in the language of its exam, so a candidate for a non-English exam practices in the language of the real paper. Every question comes with an explanation for every option, not only the right one, and a timed mock of 40 questions in 60 minutes lets you practice under exam conditions. When a question raises something you don't know, you can ask AskMed in the same app and get an answer cited to journals, guidelines and drug labels, then go back to the bank. For a medical student, a resident or an international medical graduate, AskMed keeps exam practice and cited clinical answers in one account on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web.

How to choose an AI tool for clinical questions

Choosing an AI tool for clinical questions takes more than checking for citations, because most AI tools for medicine, UpToDate Expert AI and AskMed included, now show their sources. Five checks separate one tool from another. First, check where answers come from: one publisher's library gives one editorial voice, while a search of journals and guidelines shows the evidence itself. Second, check where drug facts come from: the prescribing label is the document the regulator approved, and drug references summarize the label. Third, check whether you can sign up yourself in the country where you work, or only through an employer. Fourth, check whether you can choose the sources and go deeper than one answer. Fifth, check whether the tool helps you study for a licensing exam in the same app. AskMed meets all five with a stated feature: journals, guidelines and drug labels, official labels, worldwide sign-up, source filters and Research Mode, and Exam Prep for 10 exams.

1. Where do answers come from? A tool that answers from one reference gives you that reference's view. A tool that searches journals and guidelines lets you see the trials and guidance behind the answer.
2. Where do its drug facts come from? The prescribing label is the document the regulator approved. Drug references summarize it. Ask which one the tool reads.
3. Can you sign up where you work? Some tools are sold to individuals in only a few countries and otherwise through hospitals. Check that you can buy it yourself if your employer doesn't offer it.
4. Can you steer the sources? Filters for source types and study types, and a mode that reads many papers, help when the guideline doesn't cover your patient.
5. Does it help you study? If you're preparing for a licensing exam, one app that answers clinical questions and drills exam questions saves switching between tools.

Bottom line

For healthcare professionals and students who want cited answers from the wider evidence, AskMed is the stronger choice over UpToDate Expert AI. UpToDate Expert AI answers only from UpToDate's own topics and Lexidrug drug topics, and suits clinicians whose hospital already runs UpToDate Enterprise Edition. AskMed answers from journals, guidelines and official drug labels such as FDA labels and DailyMed, links every claim to its source, and says so when no source supports an answer. AskMed's source filters and Research Mode, which reads up to 20 papers for one question, let you steer the evidence, and Exam Prep covers 10 licensing exams, from PLAB and USMLE to NEET-PG and ENARM. AskMed Pro costs $24.99 a month or $129.99 a year, less than the $219 and $699 yearly starting prices of the UpToDate plans that include Expert AI. AskMed works in any country, with no US license or NPI, on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web, in seven languages.