Clinical decision support and electronic prescribing systems: a time for responsible thought and action.
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Clinical Pharmacy Information Systems↗
Biomedical subjects
Kevin B Johnson
Publications and source records attributed to Kevin B Johnson.
Computer-based documentation: effect on parent and physician satisfaction during a pediatric health maintenance encounter.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of a computer-based documentation (CBD) tool on parent and physician satisfaction with a pediatric health maintenance encounter. DESIGN: The project used a preintervention and postintervention design. The preintervention group visits used paper-based forms for data entry, whereas the postintervention visits used CBD. At the conclusion of each encounter, both the physician and the parent completed a survey that assessed their perceptions of the encounter's quality. SETTING: Urban hospital-based pediatric teaching clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Parents and physicians of children 18 months and younger. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Parent and physician satisfaction with 7 components of a health maintenance encounter (interim history, social history, anticipatory guidance, developmental assessment, physical examination, assessment, and plan). RESULTS: There was no change in overall parent or physician satisfaction in the areas of communication or physician helpfulness. Physicians using CBD were less likely to agree that they provided clear explanations but were also less likely to agree that they "acted bossy during the visit." There was no correlation between physician and parent satisfaction or between physician satisfaction and pattern of CBD use. However, there was a strong correlation between physicians' satisfaction and the extent to which they found CBD helpful (Spearman rho = 0.29, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of CBD into the health maintenance encounter did not affect measured aspects of parent or physician satisfaction; these results support its continued use in that setting.
Attitude to Computers↗
The impact of peer management on test-ordering behavior.
BACKGROUND: Laboratory testing of hospitalized patients, although essential, can be expensive and sometimes excessive. Attempts to reduce unnecessary testing have often been difficult to implement or sustain. OBJECTIVE: Use of peer management through a resource utilization committee (RUC) to favorably modify test-ordering behavior in a large academic medical center. DESIGN: Interrupted time-series study. SETTING: Medical center with inpatient care provider order entry (CPOE) system and database of ordered tests. PARTICIPANTS: Predominantly housestaff physicians but all clinical staff (attending physicians, housestaff, medical students, nurses, advance practice nurses, and other clinical staff) at Vanderbilt University Hospital who used CPOE systems. INTERVENTION: The RUC analyzed the ordering habits of providers during previous years and made 2 interventions by modifying software for the CPOE system. The committee first initiated a daily prompt in the system that asked providers whether they wanted to discontinue tests scheduled beyond 72 hours. After evaluating this first intervention, the committee further constrained testing options by unbundling serum metabolic panel tests (sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, glucose, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine tests) into single components and by reducing the ease of repeating targeted tests (including electrolyte, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and glucose tests; electrocardiography; and portable chest radiography). MEASUREMENTS: Pre- and postintervention volumes of tests; proportion of patients with abnormal targeted chemistry levels after 48 hours; rates of repeated admission, transfer to intensive care units, and mortality; adjusted coefficient of variation for test ordering; and length of stay. RESULTS: Voluntary reduction of testing beyond 72 hours (first intervention) decreased orders for metabolic panel component tests by 24% (P = 0.02) and electrocardiograms by 57% (P = 0.006) but not orders for portable chest radiographs. Prospective constraints on recurrent test ordering with panel unbundling (second intervention) produced an additional decrease of 51% for metabolic panel component tests (P < 0.001) and 16% for portable chest radiographs (P = 0.03). Incidence of patients with abnormal targeted blood chemistry levels after 48 hours decreased after the intervention (P = 0.02). Postintervention-adjusted coefficients of variation decreased for metabolic panel component tests (P = 0.03) and electrocardiography (P = 0.04). Rates of (adjusted) monthly readmission, transfers to intensive care units, hospital length of stay, and mortality were unchanged. LIMITATIONS: Other activities occurring during the time period of the interventions might have influenced some test-ordering behaviors, and we assessed effects on only a limited number of commonly ordered tests. CONCLUSIONS: Peer management reduced provider variability by addressing the imperfect ability of clinicians to rescind testing in a timely manner. Hospitals with growing health care costs can improve their resource utilization through peer management of testing behaviors by using CPOE systems.
Clinical Laboratory Techniques↗
Patient entry of information: evaluation of user interfaces.
BACKGROUND: Personal health records are web-based applications that allow patients to directly enter their own data into secure repositories in order to generate accessible profiles of medical information. OBJECTIVE: The authors evaluated a variety of user interfaces to determine whether different types of data entry methods employed by Personal health records may have an impact on the accuracy of patient-entered medical information. METHODS: Patients with disorders requiring treatment with thyroid hormone preparations were recruited to enter data into a web-based study application. The study application presented sequences of exercises that prompted free text entry, pick list selection, or radio button selection of information related to diagnoses, prescriptions, and laboratory test results. Entered data elements were compared to information abstracted from patients' clinic notes, prescription records, and laboratory test reports. RESULTS: Accuracy rates associated with the different data entry methods tested varied in relation to the complexity of requested information. Most of the data entry methods tested allowed for accurate entry of thyroid hormone preparation names, laboratory test names, and familiar diagnoses. Data entry methods that prompted guided abstraction of data elements from primary source documents were associated with more accurate entry of qualitative and quantitative information. CONCLUSIONS: Different types of data entry methods employed by Personal health records may have an impact on the accuracy of patient-entered medical information. Approaches that rely on guided entry of data elements abstracted from primary source documents may promote more accurate entry of information.
Drug Administration Schedule↗
Brainstorming about next-generation computer-based documentation: an AMIA clinical working group survey.
UNLABELLED: Computer-based software to record histories, physical exams, and progress or procedure notes, known as computer-based documentation (CBD) software, has been touted as an important addition to the electronic health record. The functionality of CBD systems has remained static over the past 30 years, which may have contributed to the limited adoption of these tools. Early users of this technology, who have tried multiple products, may have insight into important features to be considered in next-generation CBD systems. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, observational study of the clinical working group membership of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) to generate a set of features that might improve adoption of next-generation systems. The study was conducted online over a 4-month period; 57% of the working group members completed the survey. RESULTS: As anticipated, CBD tool use was higher (53%) in this population than in the US physician offices. The most common methods of data entry employed keyboard and mouse, with agreement that these modalities worked well. Many respondents had experience with pre-printed data collection forms before interacting with a CBD system. Respondents noted that CBD improved their ability to document large amounts of information, allowed timely sharing of information, enhanced patient care, and enhanced medical information with other clinicians (all P < 0.001). Respondents also noted some important but absent features in CBD, including the ability to add images, get help, and generate billing information. CONCLUSIONS: The latest generation of CBD systems is being used successfully by early adopters, who find that these tools confer many advantages over the approaches to documentation that they replaced. These users provide insights that may improve successive generations of CBD tools. Additional surveys of CBD non-users and failed adopters will be necessary to provide other useful insights that can address barriers to the adoption of CBD by less computer literate physicians.
Adult↗
Generating complex clinical documents using structured entry and reporting.
Structured entry and reporting in medicine remains an elusive goal. Poor adoption of clinical structured entry for documentation results in part from the inherent complexity of entering patient histories, which are generally unstructured. The authors have developed a structured entry tool that has been adopted by practicing physicians for documentation of clinical encounters. To evaluate the impact of this tool on clinical documentation, the authors have performed two comparative studies investigating note complexity. Authors compared documents generated with a standard dictation/transcription model with documents generated with structured entry. Overall, documents generated with the structured entry and reporting tool contained 64% more concepts (P<0.01) than dictated documents while maintaining the same complexity. Depth and complexity of documentation with the structured entry and reporting tool varied by clinician user and by note sub-section.
Cardiology↗
Does a clinical pathway improve the quality of care for sickle cell anemia?
BACKGROUND: Clinical pathways are often implemented to improve care, yet their effect on quality of care and outcomes is often not evaluated. The Johns Hopkins Children's Center instituted a clinical pathway in early 1996 to improve the care for pediatric sickle cell vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) and used a retrospective before-after study to describe how quality of care and outcomes changed after introduction of the pathway. RESULTS: Physicians used the pathway in 43% of eligible admissions, with use decreasing over time. Patients on the pathway were more likely to receive each of its required elements than those not on the pathway (odds ratios [OR] 1.15-2.49). After pathway implementation, even patients not on the pathway were more likely to receive incentive spirometry than those admitted before pathway availability (OR 1.40). Pathway use was associated with longer length of stay (LOS) and time to oral pain medication, while readmission rates did not change. DISCUSSION: Use of a clinical pathway improved quality of care by increasing compliance with specific care elements, with mixed results on outcomes. Pathways may improve care for all patients, including nonpathway-treated patients, by influencing underlying practice patterns. Quality improvement committees must regularly monitor outcomes after pathway implementation to evaluate the need for pathway reinforcement and refinement.
Adolescent↗
Moving toward a United States strategic plan in primary care informatics: a White Paper of the Primary Care Informatics Working Group, American Medical Informatics Association.
The Primary Care Informatics Working Group (PCIWG) of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) has identified the absence of a national strategy for primary care informatics. Under PCIWG leadership, major national and international societies have come together to create the National Alliance for Primary Care Informatics (NAPCI), to promote a connection between the informatics community and the organisations that support primary care. The PCIWG clinical practice subcommittee has recognised the necessity of a global needs assessment, and proposed work in point-of-care technology, clinical vocabularies, and ambulatory electronic medical record development. Educational needs include a consensus statement on informatics competencies, recommendations for curriculum and teaching methods, and methodologies to evaluate their effectiveness. The research subcommittee seeks to define a primary care informatics research agenda, and to support and disseminate informatics research throughout the primary care community. The AMIA board of directors has enthusiastically endorsed the conceptual basis for this White Paper.
Humans↗
Assessment of a computer-aided instructional program for the pediatric emergency department.
Computer aided instruction (CAI) software is becoming commonplace in medical education. Our experience with CAI programs in our pediatric ED raised concerns about the time commitment some of these programs require. We developed a just-in-time learning program, the Virtual Preceptor (VP) and evaluated this program for use in a busy clinical environment. Forty-three of 47 pediatric residents used the VP at least once. Interns used the program 2 (1/2) times more often than upper level residents. Of 321 topics available in 18 subject categories, 153 (48%) were selected at least once. Content was rated as appropriate by 72% of users. 95% of residents would use the program again. Although no resident felt the program itself took too long to use, 51% said they were too busy to use the VP. Time of use and level of training may be important factors in CAI use in the pediatric ED environment.
Analysis of Variance↗
Adequacy of representation of the National Drug File Reference Terminology Physiologic Effects reference hierarchy for commonly prescribed medications.
The National Drug File Reference Terminology contains a novel reference hierarchy to describe physiologic effects (PE) of drugs. The PE reference hierarchy contains 1697 concepts arranged into two broad categories; organ specific and generalized systemic effects. This investigation evaluated the appropriateness of the PE concepts for classifying a random selection of commonly prescribed medications. Ten physician reviewers classified the physiologic effects of ten drugs and rated the accuracy of the selected term. Inter reviewer agreement, overall confidence, and concept frequencies were assessed and were correlated with the complexity of the drug's known physiologic effects. In general, agreement between reviewers was fair to moderate (kappa 0.08-0.49). The physiologic effects modeled became more disperse with drugs having and inducing multiple physiologic processes. Complete modeling of all physiologic effects was limited by reviewers focusing on different physiologic processes. The reviewers were generally comfortable with the accuracy of the concepts selected. Overall, the PE reference hierarchy was useful for physician reviewers classifying the physiologic effects of drugs. Ongoing evolution of the PE reference hierarchy as it evolves should take into account the experiences of our reviewers.
Drug Therapy↗
Clictate: a computer-based documentation tool for guideline-based care.
The use of computer-based documentation tools confers many benefits to the delivery of evidence-based health care. We developed Clictate, a structured reporting environment that utilized standard Windows-based data entry constructs and natural language generation. Clictate has been in use for over 3 years by pediatric providers in an ambulatory setting. More than 50% of our providers use Clictate during the patient encounter. This report describes our results to date, and suggests future opportunities for research and development in the area of computer-based documentation.
Child↗
A situational approach to the design of a patient-oriented disease-specific knowledge base.
We have developed a situational approach to the organization of disease-specific information that seeks to provide patients with targeted access to content in a knowledge base. Our approach focuses on dividing a defined knowledge base into sections corresponding to discrete clinical events associated with the evaluation and treatment of a specific disorder. Common reasons for subspecialty referral are used to generate situational statements that serve as entry points into the knowledge base. Each section includes defining questions generated using keywords associated with specific topics. Defining questions are linked to patient-focused answers. Evaluation of a thyroid cancer web site designed using this approach has identified high ratings for usability, relevance, and comprehension of retrieved information. This approach may be particularly useful in the development of resources for newly diagnosed patients.
Artificial Intelligence↗
Personal health records: evaluation of functionality and utility.
OBJECTIVES: Web-based applications have been developed that allow patients to enter their own information into secure personal health records. These applications are being promoted as a means of providing patients and providers with universal access to updated medical information. The authors evaluated the functionality and utility of a selection of personal health records. DESIGN: A targeted search strategy was used to identify eleven Web sites promoting different personal health records. Specific criteria related to the entry and display of data elements were developed to evaluate the functionality of each PHR. Information abstracted from an actual case was used to create a series of representative PHRs. Output generated for review was evaluated to assess the accuracy and completeness of clinical information related to the diagnosis and treatment of specific disorders. RESULTS: The PHRs selected for review employed data entry methods that limited the range and content of patient-entered information related to medical history, medications, laboratory tests, diagnostic studies, and immunizations. Representative PHRs created with information abstracted from an actual case displayed varying amounts of information at basic and comprehensive levels of representation. CONCLUSIONS: Currently available PHRs demonstrate limited functionality. The data entry, validation, and information display methods they employ may limit their utility as representations of medical information.
Access to Information↗
The JAMIA Student Editorial Board: peer review education in biomedical informatics.
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Education↗
Information technology: its importance to child safety.
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Child↗
Raising the bar of pediatric patient safety: report from the Institute of Medicine.
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Health Planning↗