The Issue
In 2006, the American Medical Informatics Association released a roadmap for national action to guide the development, implementation, and use of clinical decision support throughout the U.S. health care system. This Commonwealth Fund–supported study assesses progress toward the roadmap's short-term goals and recommends further activities to promote clinical decision support.
What the Study Found
The study finds that growing numbers of health care organizations are recognizing the key role of health information technology in improving the quality and safety of care. Further, there are several multisite demonstration projects testing clinical decision support systems under way, and growing numbers of incentives for their adoption.
Conclusions
To build on this momentum, the authors recommend:
- designating a national entity to coordinate work on clinical decision support systems;
- developing ways to monitor and track the adoption and use of such systems;
- defining and providing funding for a research agenda on this topics; and
- creating new short-term goals.
