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Computerised decision support systems for healthcare professionals

Computerised decision support systems are designed to support clinicians in making decisions and thereby enhance the quality and safety of care. In a systematic review published in Informatics in Primary Care, Kathrin Cresswell and her co-authors describe the results of an interpretative review of the empirical evidence on computerised decision support systems, their contexts of use, and summarise evidence on the effectiveness of these tools and insights into how these can be successfully implemented and adopted.

Cresswell and collagues concluded that whilst the potential of clinical decision support systems in improving, in particular, practitioner performance is considerable, such technology may also introduce new risks resulting not only from technical challenges (such as data inaccuracies) but also from disruption of clinical workflows. Moving forward, there is a need for system development, procurement and implementation to be characterised by a user 'pull' and then tailor systems to the needs of users.

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