HSN/376: Health Information Technology For Nursing

Week 3 Discussion: Clinical Decision Support Experience.

Instructions: Reply substantively to at least 2 of your classmates. Be constructive and professional in your responses. Response range from 150 to 300 words per student.

**Jatinder K.

Clinical decision support systems are important due to their ability to link patient with large amounts of medical literature and previous such cases. This helps healthcare workers make informed decision about the patient. There is so much information to compare and research that it will be impossible to make appropriate observations and connections manually. Computer based support is very important for detailed research and checking multiple data points that may be too much work for manual checks, which are error prone as well in addition to being strenuous. There are numerous data points that have to be matched and researched how each of them is related to patient in question, any medications that counteract with each other, age factors, gender factors, any other drug problems that patient might be dealing with. All of these data points can be analyzed accurately with computer assisted technology. The only issue with this may be inaccurate data will yield inaccurate results. If data is not fed into the system correctly, it may even worsen the results recommended by computer system rather than improving them.

One of the example, I see on the floor that stands closest to this is heparin drip calculations based on lab results entered into the system. Testing is done every 6 hours and results are entered in EMR, which has inbuilt calculation algorithm based on patient and other parameters, it gives new dose to be administered after calculation.

**Ebony M.

Yes, I have used clinical decision support systems on several occasions. The clinical decision support system improves patient care by assisting the nurse to be more efficient. The clinical decision support system has tools that the nurse can utilize to analyze data and help nurses make decisions quickly. Physicians, healthcare professionals and nurses use clinical decision support for preparing a particular diagnosis as well as reviewing it to improve the final result (Glaser, 2008)

Some of the benefits are increased quality of care with improved health. Also, medical errors are substantially reduced. These systems can provide reliable and up to date information. Although, I believe there are more benefits than challenges, some potential problems with the system are that healthcare providers may rely too much on this technology and the technology may cost a lot as well as training the staff to use the technology. 

I believe clinical decision support systems are useful and it does help improve patient care, however, I don’t believe anything is 100% fool proof. I believe a combination of manual processes and technology make a good mix. Ultimately, the clinician has to make the final decision about what will be best for the patient. 

Reference:

Glaser, J. (2008). The Clinical decision support: The power behind the electronic health records. Healthcare Financial Management, 62(7), 46–48, 50–51.

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