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Radiation oncology residents' computer workstation.

We are investigating the feasibility of using the Macintosh computer as a workstation platform for radiation oncology residents because of its ease of use, graphics capability, and low cost. Hypercard was chosen as the programming environment because it easily mixes graphics, text, and control functions in an integrated screen display. Furthermore, it results in a system that can be relatively easily extended and customized by individual users with varying degrees of computer skills. We have developed several software modules in order to test the ability of this environment to support the demands of such a workstation. Modules created thus far include various clinical physics aids and tutorials, treatment planning guides, oncology databases, and others. The software runs on all Macintosh configurations, but calculation speeds are improved when a 68020 or greater processor is used. In general, we have been pleased with the implementation thus far. Graphics display capability is good, but design and entry of graphics have proved labor-intensive. Searching is fast and text is easily entered and manipulated. Finished modules can be customized with minimal computer training, but implementing complex new functions requires familiarity with Hypercard's programming language. New modules, once developed, are easily integrated into the workstation universe, suggesting that cooperative development of the workstation by multiple contributors is realistically achievable.

Computer Graphics↗

Adding insight: a qualitative cross-site study of physician order entry.

The research questions, strategies, and results of a six-year qualitative study of computerized physician order entry implementation (CPOE) at successful sites are reviewed over time. The iterative nature of qualitative inquiry stimulates a consecutive stream of research foci which, with each iteration, add further insight into the overarching research question. A multidisciplinary team of researchers studied CPOE implementation in four organizations using a multi-method approach to address the question "what are the success factors for implementing CPOE?" Four major themes emerged after studying three sites; ten themes resulted from blending the first results with those from a fourth site; and twelve principles were generated when results of a qualitative analysis of consensus conference transcripts were combined with the field data. The study has produced detailed descriptions of factors related to CPOE success and insight into the implementation process.

Data Collection↗

Clinical decision support provided within physician order entry systems: a systematic review of features effective for changing clinician behavior.

Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems represent an important tool for providing clinical decision support. In undertaking this systematic review, our objective was to identify the features of CPOE-based clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) most effective at modifying clinician behavior. For this review, two independent reviewers systematically identified randomized controlled trials that evaluated the effectiveness of CPOE-based CDSSs in changing clinician behavior. Furthermore, each included study was assessed for the presence of 14 CDSS features. We screened 10,023 citations and included 11 studies. Of the 10 studies comparing a CPOE-based CDSS intervention against a non-CDSS control group, 7 reported a significant desired change in professional practice. Moreover, meta-regression analysis revealed that automatic provision of the decision support was strongly associated with improved professional practice (adjusted odds ratio, 23.72; 95% confidence interval, 1.75-infiniti). Thus, we conclude that automatic provision of decision support is a critical feature of successful CPOE-based CDSS interventions.

Decision Making, Computer-Assisted↗

A diffusion of innovations model of physician order entry.

OBJECTIVE: To interpret the results of a cross-site study of physician order entry (POE) in hospitals using a diffusion of innovations theory framework. METHODS: Qualitative study using observation, focus groups, and interviews. Data were analyzed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers using a grounded approach to identify themes. Themes were then interpreted using classical Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory as described by Rogers [1]. RESULTS: Four high level themes were identified: organizational issues; clinical and professional issues; technology implementation issues; and issues related to the organization of information and knowledge. Further analysis using the DOI framework indicated that POE is an especially complex information technology innovation when one considers communication, time, and social system issues in addition to attributes of the innovation itself. CONCLUSION: Implementation strategies for POE should be designed to account for its complex nature. The ideal would be a system that is both customizable and integrated with other parts of the information system, is implemented with maximum involvement of users and high levels of support, and is surrounded by an atmosphere of trust and collaboration.

Diffusion of Innovation↗

Use of on-line medical command to randomize patients in a prehospital research study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the efficiency of using on-line medical command (OLMC) to conduct a prospective, randomized clinical trial addressing safety and patient enrollment. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Prospective design using OLMC to randomize adult asthmatics into one of three treatment groups. After verifying inclusion and exclusion criteria, OLMC physicians removed a covering label on study sheets and ordered the treatment specified underneath the label that had been assigned in a random sequence. RESULTS: A total of 204 patients were seen with dyspnea and wheezing during the three-month study. Of these, 68 (33%) were excluded from the study. Of the 136 (67%) patients who were eligible for study, 87 were enrolled (enrollment efficiency 64%), with 79 fully evaluable (evaluable efficiency 91%). The study safety was 100% because no enrolled patients met any exclusion criteria. CONCLUSIONS: The design was random and prospective, with patient entry blinded, using paramedics to enroll patients and OLMC physicians as gatekeepers, thus ensuring appropriate patient eligibility and study-arm assignment. Use of OLMC physicians to perform prospective randomized studies is safe and efficient, and results in a high yield of evaluable patients.

Adolescent↗

Impact of emerging technologies on medication errors and adverse drug events.

Published evidence on the effects of computerized physician order entry (CPOE), automated dispensing machines (ADMs), bar coding, and computerized medication administration records (CMARs) on medication errors and adverse drug events (ADEs) were reviewed. Emerging technologies have been recommended as potential mechanisms for reducing medication errors. Critical evaluations of the impact of these new technologies on medication errors and other adverse outcomes are lacking. PubMed was searched to identify all peer-reviewed publications linking four technologies (CPOE, ADMs, bar coding, and CMARs) with reductions in medication errors and ADEs and secondary endpoints. All controlled studies that assessed the impact of the technologies were evaluated. The appropriateness of the use of these technologies was also examined. Few studies were identified that evaluated the technologies' impact on these endpoints. Of the evaluated technologies, CPOE was the most studied; however, investigations were limited to selected medical centers. The appropriateness of use of the technologies was evaluated even more infrequently. A literature review revealed a paucity of controlled, generalizable studies confirming the benefits of technologies intended to reduce medication errors and ADEs. Very little evidence on the appropriateness of the use of these technologies was found.

Drug Therapy, Computer-Assisted↗

A semantic normal form for clinical drugs in the UMLS: early experiences with the VANDF.

A semantic normal form (SNF) for a clinical drug, designed to represent the meaning of an expression typically seen in a practitioner's medication order, has been developed and is being created in the UMLS Metathesaurus. The long term goal is to establish a relationship for every concept in the Metathesaurus with semantic type "clinical drug" with one or more of these semantic normal forms. First steps have been taken using the Veterans Administration National Drug File (VANDF). 70% of the entries in the VANDF could be parsed algorithmically into the SNF. Next steps include parsing other drug vocabularies included in the UMLS Metathesaurus and performing human review of the parsed vocabularies. After machine parsed forms have been merged in the Metathesaurus Information Database (MID), editors will be able to edit matched SNFs for accuracy and establish relationships and relationship attributes with other clinical drug concepts.

Algorithms↗

Managing the tensions between national standardization vs. regional localization of clinical content and templates.

The deployment of sophisticated software tools and electronic health records offers many new opportunities and challenges to support care delivery. One of the key opportunities is to enhance the quality of care with evidence-based medicine (EBM). One of the key challenges is to embed EBM in tools that directly facilitate the process of documentation and care delivery. Since clinicians typically have the option of using free text for most of their documentation, the tools that provide embedded EBM must be at least as efficient as free text. There are many requirements that must be met in order to effectively embed EBM within clinical content tools and enhance both the usability and the actual use of such tools and clinical content: (1) Facilitate the documentation process; (2) Facilitate the care delivery process, e.g. make order entry faster; (3) Contain recommendations that are highly relevant to the clinical context of an encounter; (4) Aid in the capture of discrete coded data. Support for local variation is often key to meeting these objectives and becomes a central factor in helping clinicians shift from unstructured free text, to the use of these tools, which support the delivery of EBM. This document describes the central tension between the objective of national standardization and delivery of EBM and the need for regional localization of clinical content. This tension must be thoughtfully managed to maximize the quality of care delivery and associated workflow practices. The key elements of legitimate local variation that must be recognized in order to achieve these goals are described in this document, and the key principles for managing the tensions between generalization and localization are identified.

Decision Support Systems, Clinical↗

A case study: business process re-engineering (BPR) of the order-/delivery process at the pediatric clinic at the University Hospital of Lund.

The traditional order and delivery activities have been characterized by manual routines and a paper-based workflow management. Problems such as the time consuming processes in which a laboratory service order is created or that of getting the laboratory service report with results from the requested investigations from the laboratories and the entry of the same information by different persons at different points in the workflow with the possibilities of transfer errors are well known. The development of modern information technology, along with the developing of standards for communication protocols and the message structure for the electronic interchange of information (EDI) gives us the tools to change the way we work and manage workflow. An important input to the business process reengineering process is a thorough knowledge of the context within which the order-/delivery activities exist. One has to take into account that the activities are: 1) heavily integrated in the whole treatment and care process, 2) together with routines and the taking of samples and related requests many times are a part of the daily work of a ward, and 3) many decisions about the treatment of a patient are based on the results in the laboratory service report from the laboratories.

Hospital Information Systems↗

Computer-based drug ordering: evaluation of interaction with a decision-support system.

Provider order entry systems (POE) often incorporate active decision-support component for drug dosing. The efficacy of automated alerts that suggest dose amounts to the clinician in real time depends in part on how well they are timed to fit into the decision process and on their representational structure. We have conducted a cognitive evaluation of an interaction with a POE system that offered active decision support for heparin dosing with the goal of characterizing its effectiveness and opportunities for error. Two researchers completed a cognitive walk-through of an ordering task based on a clinical scenario. In addition, seven clinicians were asked to enter a set of orders in an experiment using the same scenario. The analysis revealed that users without a solid conceptual knowledge of the ordering system followed patterns of inefficient interactive behavior resulting in delays and some errors. Physicians often did not take full advantage of automatic dose computation provided by a decision support component and used it largely as reference. The calculated dose was not perceptually salient in the generated alert and required users to engage in meaning interpretation of the displayed information. Better visual presentation of the alert message would likely result in faster and less cognitively demanding interaction.

Anticoagulants↗

Reasons for physician non-adherence to electronic drug alerts.

CONTEXT: Many adverse drug errors may be prevented through electronic order entry systems that provide decision support to physicians by screening prescriptions for dosing errors, drug-disease, drug-allergy and drug-drug interactions. The adherence to such decision aids is varied and the reasons for this variance not well understood. OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility and performance auto-mated drug alerts within an electronic decision support system for physician prescribing. METHODS: Drug alert data were collected from a pilot project with 30 participating general practitioners who were provided with interactive electronic prescription capabilities through a personal digital assistant (PDA). RESULTS: 66,642 electronic prescriptions resulted in a total of 1,869 drug alerts. The most common alert types were analysed, along with reasons for non-adherence to automated drug alerts. CONCLUSIONS: Non-adherence to alert information appears to be associated with additional knowledge of the clinical situation, beyond that inherent in the decision support tool, for the specific patient context. Further work is required to understand how best to provide this type of support to physicians.

Clinical Pharmacy Information Systems↗

Emotional aspects of computer-based provider order entry: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES: Computer-based provider order entry (CPOE) systems are implemented to increase both efficiency and accuracy in health care, but these systems often cause a myriad of emotions to arise. This qualitative research investigates the emotions surrounding CPOE implementation and use. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of several previously collected qualitative data sets from interviews and observations of over 50 individuals. Three researchers worked in parallel to identify themes that expressed emotional responses to CPOE. We then reviewed and classified these quotes using a validated hierarchical taxonomy of semantically homogeneous terms associated with specific emotions. RESULTS: The implementation and use of CPOE systems provoked examples of positive, negative, and neutral emotions. Negative emotional responses were the most prevalent, by far, in all the observations. CONCLUSION: Designing and implementing CPOE systems is difficult. These systems and the implementation process itself often inspire intense emotions. If designers and implementers fail to recognize that various CPOE features and implementation strategies can increase clinicians' negative emotions, then the systems may fail to become a routine part of the clinical care delivery process. We might alleviate some of these problems by designing positive feedback mechanisms for both the systems and the organizations.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Design of a safer approach to intravenous drug infusions: failure mode effects analysis.

OBJECTIVES: A set of standard processes was developed for delivering continuous drug infusions in order to improve (1) patient safety; (2) efficiency in staff workflow; (3) hemodynamic stability during infusion changes, and (4) efficient use of resources. Failure modes effects analysis (FMEA) was used to examine the impact of process changes on the reliability of delivering drug infusions. SETTING: An 11 bed multidisciplinary pediatric ICU in the children's hospital of an academic medical center staffed by board certified pediatric intensivists. The hospital uses computerized physician order entry for all medication orders. METHODS: A multidisciplinary team characterized key elements of the drug infusion process. The process was enhanced to increase overall reliability and the original and revised processes were compared using FMEA. Resource consumption was estimated by reviewing purchasing and pharmacy records for the calendar year after full implementation of the revised process. Staff satisfaction was evaluated using an anonymous questionnaire administered to staff nurses in the ICU and pediatric residents who had rotated through the ICU. RESULTS: The original process was characterized by six elements: selecting the drug; selecting a dose; selecting an infusion rate; calculating and ordering the infusion; preparing the infusion; programming the infusion pump and delivering the infusion. The following practice changes were introduced: standardizing formulations for all infusions; developing database driven calculators; extending infusion hang times from 24 to 72 hours; changing from bedside preparation by nurses to pharmacy prepared or premanufactured solutions. FMEA showed that the last three elements of the original process had high risk priority numbers (RPNs) of >225 whereas the revised process had no elements with RPNs >100. The combined effect of prolonging infusion hang times, preparation in the pharmacy, and purchasing premanufactured solutions resulted in 1500 fewer infusions prepared by nurses per year. Nursing staff expressed a significant preference and pediatric residents unanimously expressed a strong preference for the revised process. CONCLUSIONS: Standardization of infusion delivery reduced the frequency for completing the most unreliable elements of the process and reduced the riskiness of the individual elements. Both contribute to a safer system.

Academic Medical Centers↗

The informatics of a C57BL/6J mouse brain atlas.

The Mouse Atlas Project (MAP) aims to produce a framework for organizing and analyzing the large volumes of neuroscientific data produced by the proliferation of genetically modified animals. Atlases provide an invaluable aid in understanding the impact of genetic manipulations by providing a standard for comparison. We use a digital atlas as the hub of an informatics network, correlating imaging data, such as structural imaging and histology, with text-based data, such as nomenclature, connections, and references. We generated brain volumes using magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM), classical histology, and immunohistochemistry, and registered them into a common and defined coordinate system. Specially designed viewers were developed in order to visualize multiple datasets simultaneously and to coordinate between textual and image data. Researchers can navigate through the brain interchangeably, in either a text-based or image-based representation that automatically updates information as they move. The atlas also allows the independent entry of other types of data, the facile retrieval of information, and the straight-forward display of images. In conjunction with centralized servers, image and text data can be kept current and can decrease the burden on individual researchers' computers. A comprehensive framework that encompasses many forms of information in the context of anatomic imaging holds tremendous promise for producing new insights. The atlas and associated tools can be found at http://www.loni.ucla.edu/MAP.

Anatomy, Artistic↗

Information systems integration in radiology.

Advances in information systems and technology in conjunction with outside forces requiring improved reporting are driving sweeping changes in the practice of radiology. In most academic radiology departments, there can be at least five separate information systems in daily use, a clinical picture archiving and communication system (PACS), a hospital information system (HIS), a radiology information system (RIS), a voice-recognition dictation system, and an electronic teaching/research file system. A PACS will have incomplete, incorrect, and inconsistent data if manual data entry is used. Correct routing of studies for diagnostic reporting and clinical review requires accurate information about the study type and the referring physician or service, often not easily entered manually. An HIS is a hospital-wide information system used to access patient information, reports from various services, and billing information. The RIS is typically a system specifically designed to place radiology orders, to receive interpretations, and to prepare bills for patients. Voice-recognition systems automatically transcribe the radiologist's dictation, eliminating transcription delays. Another system that is needed in a teaching hospital holds images and data for research and education. Integration of diverse systems must be performed to provide the functionality required by an electronic radiology department and the services it supports. Health Level 7 (HL7) and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) have enabled sharing of data among systems and can be used as the building blocks for truly integrated systems, but the user community and manufacturers need to specify the types of functionality needed to build clinically useful systems. Although technology development has produced the tools for interoperability for clinical and research/educational use, more work needs to be done to define the types of interaction that needs to be performed to realize the potential of these systems.

Computer Communication Networks↗

Antibiotic use and microbial resistance in intensive care units: impact of computer-assisted decision support.

As part of our integrated hospital information system (the HELP system), we developed computer-assisted decision support programs for antimicrobial prescribing that are available at bedside terminals throughout our 520-bed community hospital. Recently, options have been added to allow direct physician order entry of anti-infective agents in the shock-trauma intensive care unit (STRICU). Physicians prescribed the computer-suggested regimens for 46% but followed the suggested dose and interval for 93% of the orders during a 1-year study period. In comparison to a 2-year pre-intervention period, improved drug selection and reductions in adverse drug events and costs were seen. Antimicrobial resistance patterns for nosocomial gram-negative isolates remained stable or improved in the STRICU over an 11-year period of computer-assisted antibiotic management. We conclude that strategies for optimizing antimicrobial prescribing have the potential to stabilize resistance and reduce costs by encouraging heterogeneous prescribing patterns, use of local antimicrobial susceptibility patterns to inform empiric drug selection, and reduced "tonnage" of antibiotic use.

Algorithms↗

The impact of prescribing safety alerts for elderly persons in an electronic medical record: an interrupted time series evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Considerable effort and attention have focused on medication safety in elderly persons; one approach that has been understudied in the outpatient environment is the use of computerized provider order entry with clinical decision support. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of computerized provider order entry with clinical decision support in reducing the use of potentially contraindicated agents in elderly persons. METHODS: With data from a 39-month period of a natural experiment, we evaluated changes in medication dispensing using interrupted time series analysis to estimate changes, controlling for prealert prescribing trends. The setting was a large health maintenance organization in the Pacific Northwest. All adult enrollees of the health plan participated. The intervention was computerized alerts cautioning against using certain medications in elderly persons. The main outcome measure was dispensing per 10,000 members per month. RESULTS: Following the implementation of the drug-specific alerts, a large and persistent reduction (5.1 prescriptions per 10,000, P=.004), a 22% relative decrease from the month before alert implementation, in the exposure of elderly patients to nonpreferred medications was observed. We found no evidence of a decrease in use of nonpreferred agents for nonelderly patients. The reduction seen in use of nonpreferred agents for elderly persons was driven primarily by decreases in dispensing for tertiary tricyclic agents. CONCLUSIONS: We found that alerts in an outpatient electronic medical record aimed at decreasing prescribing of medication use in elderly persons may be an effective method of reducing prescribing of contraindicated medications. The effect of the alerts on patient outcomes is less certain and deserves further investigation.

Adult↗

A trial of automated decision support alerts for contraindicated medications using computerized physician order entry.

BACKGROUND: Automated clinical decision support has shown promise in reducing medication errors; however, clinicians often do not comply with alerts. Because renal insufficiency is a common source of medication errors, the authors studied a trial of alerts designed to reduce inpatient administration of medications contraindicated due to renal insufficiency. METHODS: A minimum safe creatinine clearance was established for each inpatient formulary medication. Alerts recommending cancellation appeared when a medication order was initiated for a patient whose estimated creatinine clearance was less than the minimum safe creatinine clearance for the medication. Administration of medications in patients with creatinine clearances less than the medication's minimum safe clearance were studied for 14 months after, and four months before, alert implementation. In addition, the impact of patient age, gender, degree of renal dysfunction, time of day, and duration of housestaff training on the likelihood of housestaff compliance with the alerts was examined. RESULTS: The likelihood of a patient receiving at least one dose of contraindicated drug after the order was initiated decreased from 89% to 47% (p < 0.0001) after alert implementation. Analysis of the alerts seen by housestaff showed that alert compliance was higher in male patients (57% vs. 38%, p = 0.02), increased with the duration of housestaff training (p = 0.04), and increased in patients with worsening renal function (p = 0.007). CONCLUSION: Alerts were effective in decreasing the ordering and administration of drugs contraindicated due to renal insufficiency. Compliance with the alerts was higher in male patients, increased with the duration of housestaff training, and increased in patients with more severe renal dysfunction.

Contraindications↗