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Enabling Health Care Decisionmaking Through Clinical Decision Support and Knowledge Management

Systematic Review ARCHIVED Apr 24, 2012
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Page Contents

Archived: This report is greater than 3 years old. Findings may be used for research purposes, but should not be considered current.

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Structured Abstract

Objectives

To catalogue study designs used to assess the clinical effectiveness of clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) and knowledge management systems (KMSs), to identify features that impact the success of CDSSs/KMSs, to document the impact of CDSSs/KMSs on outcomes, and to identify knowledge types that can be integrated into CDSSs/KMSs.

Data Sources

MEDLINE®, CINAHL®, PsycINFO®, and Web of Science®.

Review Methods

We included studies published in English from January 1976 through December 2010. After screening titles and abstracts, full-text versions of articles were reviewed by two independent reviewers. Included articles were abstracted to evidence tables by two reviewers. Meta-analyses were performed for seven domains in which sufficient studies with common outcomes were included.

Results

We identified 15,176 articles, from which 323 articles describing 311 unique studies including 160 reports on 148 randomized control trials (RCTs) were selected for inclusion. RCTs comprised 47.5 percent of the comparative studies on CDSSs/KMSs. Both commercially and locally developed CDSSs effectively improved health care process measures related to performing preventive services (n = 25; OR 1.42, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.27 to 1.58), ordering clinical studies (n = 20; OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.47 to 2.00), and prescribing therapies (n = 46; OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.35 to 1.82). Fourteen CDSS/KMS features were assessed for correlation with success of CDSSs/KMSs across all endpoints. Meta-analyses identified six new success features: integration with charting or order entry system, promotion of action rather than inaction, no need for additional clinician data entry, justification of decision support via research evidence, local user involvement, and provision of decision support results to patients as well as providers. Three previously identified success features were confirmed: automatic provision of decision support as part of clinician workflow, provision of decision support at time and location of decisionmaking, and provision of a recommendation, not just an assessment. Only 29 (19.6%) RCTs assessed the impact of CDSSs on clinical outcomes, 22 (14.9%) assessed costs, and 3 assessed KMSs on any outcomes. The primary source of knowledge used in CDSSs was derived from structured care protocols.

Conclusions

Strong evidence shows that CDSSs/KMSs are effective in improving health care process measures across diverse settings using both commercially and locally developed systems. Evidence for the effectiveness of CDSSs on clinical outcomes and costs and KMSs on any outcomes is minimal. Nine features of CDSSs/KMSs that correlate with a successful impact of clinical decision support have been newly identified or confirmed.

Journal Publications

Bright TJ, Wong A, Dhurjati R, et al. Effect of clinical decision-support systems: a systematic review. Ann Intern Med 2012 Apr 23 [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 22529043.

Project Timeline

Enabling Health Care Decisionmaking through Clinical Decision Support and Knowledge Management

Jan 6, 2011
Topic Initiated
Apr 24, 2012
Systematic Review Archived
Page last reviewed December 2019
Page originally created November 2017

Internet Citation: Systematic Review: Enabling Health Care Decisionmaking Through Clinical Decision Support and Knowledge Management. Content last reviewed December 2019. Effective Health Care Program, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD.
https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/products/clinical-decision-support/research

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