CLINICAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS

To advocate for the development of clinical decision support (CDS) systems that are proven to improve medication-use outcomes and that include the following capabilities: (1) alerts, notifications, and summary data views provided to the appropriate people at the appropriate times in clinical workflows, based on (a) a rich set of patient-specific data, (b) standardized, evidence-based medication-use best practices, and (c) identifiable patterns in medication-use data in the electronic health record; (2) audit trails of all CDS alerts, notifications, and follow-up activity; (3) structured clinical documentation functionality linked to individual CDS alerts and notifications; and (4) highly accessible and detailed management reporting capabilities that facilitate assessment of the quality and completeness of CDS responses and the effects of CDS on patient outcomes.

Rationale

Clinical decision support (CDS) systems provide timely information, usually at the point of care, to help inform decisions about a patient's care. CDS can effectively improve patient outcomes and lead to higher-quality healthcare. CDS systems are now commonly administered through electronic medical records and other computerized clinical workflows, which has been facilitated by increasing global adoption of electronic medical records with advanced capabilities. Despite these advances, there remain unknowns regarding the effect CDS systems have on the providers who use them, patient outcomes, and costs. There have been numerous published examples of CDS system success stories, but notable setbacks have also demonstrated that CDS systems are not without risks. Ongoing advocacy is needed for evidence-based improvements in CDS systems that minimize risk in design, implementation, evaluation, and maintenance; provide actionable data analytics; and support the medication-use process.