An innovative program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Clinical Informatics Center has optimized clinical-decision support, sparking a reduction in the overall number of EHR alerts issued and increasing clinician engagement.
Clinical-decision support (CDS) systems provide physicians and staff with specific information about patients, filtered and ideally presented in a timely manner to enhance health care delivery.
These systems commonly help with diagnoses. They may also track negative drug interactions through computerized alerts and reminders to health care providers. A new Vanderbilt literature review of 45 relevant studies from 2020 to 2022 found the most frequent CDS type (33.3 percent) was point-of-care alerts or reminders.
Meanwhile, clinicians report encountering a growing information overload. While health information technologies are designed to improve clinical decision-making, too many alerts may contribute to health care provider interruptions and burnout, the authors noted.
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