Qualitative study of challenges with recruitment of hospitals into a cluster controlled trial of clinical decision support in Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers to hospital participation in controlled cluster trials of clinical decision support (CDS) and potential strategies for addressing barriers. DESIGN: Qualitative descriptive design comprising semistructured interviews. SETTING: Five hospitals in New South Wales and one hospital in Queensland, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Senior hospital staff, including department directors, chief information officers and those working in health informatics teams. RESULTS: 20 senior hospital staff took part. Barriers to hospital-level recruitment primarily related to perceptions of risk associated with not implementing CDS as a control site. Perceived risks included reductions in patient safety, reputational risk and increased likelihood that benefits would not be achieved following electronic medical record (EMR) implementation without CDS alerts in place. Senior staff recommended clear communication of trial information to all relevant stakeholders as a key strategy for boosting hospital-level participation in trials. CONCLUSION: Hospital participation in controlled cluster trials of CDS is hindered by perceptions that adopting an EMR without CDS is risky for both patients and organisations. The improvements in safety expected to follow CDS implementation makes it challenging and counterintuitive for hospitals to implement EMR without incorporating CDS alerts for the purposes of a research trial. To counteract these barriers, clear communication regarding the evidence base and rationale for a controlled trial is needed.

Drug-Drug Interactions and Actual Harm to Hospitalized Patients: A Multicentre Study Examining the Prevalence Pre- and Post-Electronic Medication System Implementation.

INTRODUCTION: Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) have potential to cause patient harm, including lowering therapeutic efficacy. This study aimed to (i) determine the prevalence of potential DDIs (pDDIs); clinically relevant DDIs (cDDIs), that is, DDIs that could lead to patient harm, taking into account a patient's individual clinical profile, drug effects and severity of potential harmful outcome; and subsequent actual harm among hospitalized patients and (ii) examine the impact of transitioning from paper-based medication charts to electronic medication management (eMM) on DDIs and patient harms. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of the control arm of a controlled pre-post study. Patients were randomly selected from three Australian hospitals. Retrospective chart review was conducted before and after the implementation of an eMM system, without accompanying clinical decision support alerts for DDIs. Harm was assessed by an expert panel. RESULTS: Of 1186 patient admissions, 70.1% (n = 831) experienced a pDDI, 42.6% (n = 505) a cDDI and 0.9% (n = 11) an actual harm in hospital. Of 15,860 pDDIs identified, 27.0% (n = 4285) were classified as cDDIs. The median number of pDDIs and cDDIs per 10 drugs were 6 [interquartile range (IQR) 2-13] and 0 (IQR 0-2), respectively. In cases where a cDDI was identified, both drugs were 44% less likely to be co-administered following eMM (adjusted odds ratio 0.56, 95% confidence interval 0.46-0.73). CONCLUSION: Although most patients experienced a pDDI during their hospital stay, less than one-third of pDDIs were clinically relevant. The low prevalence of harm identified raises questions about the value of incorporating DDI decision support into systems given the potential negative impacts of DDI alerts.

Developing a process to measure actual harm from medication errors in paediatric inpatients: From design to implementation.

AIMS: The potential harm associated with medication errors is widely reported, but data on actual harm are limited. When actual harm has been measured, assessment processes are often poorly described, limiting their ability to be reproduced by other studies. Our aim was to design and implement a new process to assess actual harm resulting from medication errors in paediatric inpatient care. METHODS: Prescribing errors were identified through retrospective medical record reviews (n = 26 369 orders) and medication administration errors through direct observation (n = 5137 administrations) in a tertiary paediatric hospital. All errors were assigned potential harm severity ratings on a 5-point scale. Multidisciplinary panels reviewed case studies for patients assigned the highest three potential severity ratings and determined the following: actual harm occurrence and severity level, plausibility of a link between the error(s) and identified harm(s) and a confidence rating if no harm had occurred. RESULTS: Multidisciplinary harm panels (n = 28) reviewed 566 case studies (173 prescribing related and 393 administration related) and found evidence of actual harm in 89 (prescribing = 22, administration = 67). Eight cases of serious harm cases were found (prescribing = 1, administration = 7) and no cases of severe harm. The panels were very confident in 65% of cases (n = 302) where no harm was found. Potential and actual harm ratings varied. CONCLUSIONS: This harm assessment process provides a systematic method for determining actual harm from medication errors. The multidisciplinary nature of the panels was critical in evaluating specific clinical, therapeutic and contextual considerations including care delivery pathways, therapeutic dose ranges and drug-drug and drug-disease interactions.

An Analysis of Incident Reports Related to Electronic Medication Management: How They Change Over Time.

OBJECTIVE: Electronic medication management (EMM) systems have been shown to introduce new patient safety risks that were not possible, or unlikely to occur, with the use of paper charts. Our aim was to examine the factors that contribute to EMM-related incidents and how these incidents change over time with ongoing EMM use. METHODS: Incidents reported at 3 hospitals between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2019, were extracted using a keyword search and then screened to identify EMM-related reports. Data contained in EMM-related incident reports were then classified as unsafe acts made by users and the latent conditions contributing to each incident. RESULTS: In our sample, 444 incident reports were determined to be EMM related. Commission errors were the most frequent unsafe act reported by users (n = 298), whereas workarounds were reported in only 13 reports. User latent conditions (n = 207) were described in the highest number of incident reports, followed by conditions related to the organization (n = 200) and EMM design (n = 184). Over time, user unfamiliarity with the system remained a key contributor to reported incidents. Although fewer articles to electronic transfer errors were reported over time, incident reports related to the transfer of information between different computerized systems increased as hospitals adopted more clinical information systems. CONCLUSIONS: Electronic medication management-related incidents continue to occur years after EMM implementation and are driven by design, user, and organizational conditions. Although factors contribute to reported incidents in varying degrees over time, some factors are persistent and highlight the importance of continuously improving the EMM system and its use.

How Are Clinicians' Acceptance and Use of Clinical Decision Support Systems Evaluated Over Time? A Systematic Review.

Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) can enhance the safety and quality of patient care, but their benefits are often hampered by low acceptance and use by clinicians in practice. Existing research has explored clinicians' experiences with CDSS in a static nature, with limited consideration of how user needs may change over time. This review aimed to identify the methods used to capture clinicians' acceptance and use of CDSS in hospital settings at different time points following implementation and highlight gaps to inform future work. Seventy-six studies met inclusion criteria. Qualitative methods were rarely used during the early implementation phases, particularly in the first 2 months following implementation. Further work is needed to understand clinicians' experiences immediately following implementation of CDSS and how these insights can be used to support use over time.

Fighting the Same Battles on a New Battleground: Embedding Technologies in a Virtual Care Environment.

The pandemic necessitated the rapid design, development and implementation of technologies to allow remote monitoring of COVID-19 patients at home. This study aimed to explore the environmental barriers and facilitators to the successful development and implementation of virtual care technologies in this fast-paced context. We interviewed eight staff at a virtual hospital in Australia. We found key facilitators to be a learning organizational culture and strong leadership support. Barriers included interoperability issues, legislative constraints and unrealistic clinician expectations. Also, we found that a combination of hot-desking and the lack of single sign on in the virtual care environment, was reported to create additional work for staff. Overall, despite this unique context, our findings are consistent with prior work examining design and implementation of healthcare technologies. The fast pace and high-pressure environment appeared to magnify previously reported barriers, but also cultivate and foster a learning culture.

A tale of 2 digital hospitals: A qualitative study of antimicrobial stewardship teams.

AIMS: We aim to examine and understand the work processes of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) teams across 2 hospitals that use the same digital intervention, and to identify the barriers and enablers to effective AMS in each setting. METHODS: Employing a contextual inquiry approach informed by the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model, observations and semistructured interviews were conducted with AMS team members (n = 15) in 2 Australian hospitals. Qualitative data analysis was conducted, mapping themes to the SEIPS framework. RESULTS: Both hospitals utilized similar systems, however, they displayed variations in AMS processes, particularly in postprescription review, interdepartmental AMS meetings and the utilization of digital tools. An antimicrobial dashboard was available at both hospitals but was utilized more at the hospital where the AMS team members were involved in the dashboard's development, and there were user champions. At the hospital where the dashboard was utilized less, participants were unaware of key features, and interoperability issues were observed. Establishing strong relationships between the AMS team and prescribers emerged as key to effective AMS at both hospitals. However, organizational and cultural differences were found, with 1 hospital reporting insufficient support from executive leadership, increased prescriber autonomy and resource constraints. CONCLUSION: Organizational and cultural elements, such as executive support, resource allocation and interdepartmental relationships, played a crucial role in achieving AMS goals. System interoperability and user champions further promoted the adoption of digital tools, potentially improving AMS outcomes through increased user engagement and acceptance.

'We are somehow fixated on this being a diabetes drug': a qualitative study exploring the views of cardiologists and nephrologists about sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor initiation.

BACKGROUND: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) are now indicated for heart failure and chronic kidney disease (CKD), irrespective of the presence of diabetes. Hence, cardiologists and nephrologists have an important role in initiating these drugs. AIMS: To explore cardiologists' and nephrologists' perspectives regarding initiating SGLT2i and their safety monitoring practices when initiating SGLT2i. METHODS: Purposive and snowball approaches were used to recruit participants working in diverse areas in New South Wales, Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 cardiologists and 12 nephrologists. Interviews were conducted until thematic saturation was reached. Emergent themes were identified from transcripts. An iterative general inductive approach was used for data analysis. RESULTS: There was a reluctance amongst most non-heart-failure subspecialist cardiologists to initiate SGLT2i. Reasons included the perception of SGLT2i as diabetes drugs, concern about side effects, lack of experience and issues with follow-up. In contrast, nephrologists reported feeling confident to initiate SGLT2i. Nephrologists varied in their opinions about the severity of CKD at which SGLT2i initiation was reasonable and monitoring of renal function following initiation. Government subsidisation was an important factor in the decision to prescribe SGLT2i to people without diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the complex transition from the perception of SGLT2i as diabetes drugs to cardiometabolic and reno-protective agents. Interdisciplinary collaboration may enable greater confidence amongst specialists to initiate SGLT2i, including in patients with CKD. Additionally, there is a need for clear and detailed guidance about SGLT2i prescription in patients with renal dysfunction and renal function monitoring following SGLT2i initiation.

The Impact of Personal Protective Equipment on Cognitive and Emotional Aspects of Health Care Work.

OBJECTIVE: Personal protective equipment (PPE) is critical to the safety of health professionals and vital to clinical practice. However, there is little known about the cognitive and emotional impact of PPE on health professionals' performance, comfort, and well-being. METHODS: A mixed-method, cross-sectional, observational study was adopted. An online survey consisting of 5-point Likert scale questions and free-text comments canvassed the opinions of patient-facing health professionals. RESULTS: An overall negative impact of PPE on health professionals' ability to carry out work was found from 185 responses from medicine, nursing, and allied health disciplines, including increased fatigue, poor communication, and feeling uncomfortable. CONCLUSIONS: There are significant negative impacts of PPE on health professionals' ability to carry out work, impairing communication, task efficiency, and comfort. Personal protective equipment is an essential infection control practice requiring further research, design, and testing to overcome challenges.

Clinical decision support systems for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in hospitals: A systematic review.

Objectives: To synthesise the literature on clinical decision support (CDS) systems for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We aimed to (1) describe existing COPD CDS systems that have been designed, developed or are being used in practice, (2) describe the impact of COPD CDS systems on outcomes and (3) identify barriers and facilitators to implementation of COPD CDS systems. Methods: Five databases were searched to identify relevant studies. All studies in English that described clinician-facing COPD CDS systems designed for, or implemented in, hospitals and hospital-in-the-home settings were included. A qualitative narrative synthesis was undertaken, guided by the RE-AIM framework (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance). Results: Twelve studies reporting the use of CDS in hospital (n = 7) and hospital-in-the-home (n = 5) settings were included. Implementation efforts to reach target users were scantly reported, and low-to-medium adoption rates were observed. The reported effectiveness of the CDS systems was mixed. Only one study reported facilitators to the implementation of CDS systems, none reported on barriers to the implementation of CDS systems, and none reported any information on successful strategies to maintain implementation of CDS systems. Conclusion: The use of CDS systems in the management of patients with COPD in hospital-related settings is an important emerging field of research. Evidence suggests that the field has largely focused on systems targeted at physicians, often with incomplete descriptions and limited evaluations. Many opportunities to optimise and evaluate the implementation and use of COPD CDS systems in hospital settings remain, including robust evaluation of their impact on patient, clinician and health service outcomes.

How digital health translational research is prioritised: a qualitative stakeholder-driven approach to decision support evaluation.

OBJECTIVES: Digital health is now routinely being applied in clinical care, and with a variety of clinician-facing systems available, healthcare organisations are increasingly required to make decisions about technology implementation and evaluation. However, few studies have examined how digital health research is prioritised, particularly research focused on clinician-facing decision support systems. This study aimed to identify criteria for prioritising digital health research, examine how these differ from criteria for prioritising traditional health research and determine priority decision support use cases for a collaborative implementation research programme. METHODS: Drawing on an interpretive listening model for priority setting and a stakeholder-driven approach, our prioritisation process involved stakeholder identification, eliciting decision support use case priorities from stakeholders, generating initial use case priorities and finalising preferred use cases based on consultations. In this qualitative study, online focus group session(s) were held with stakeholders, audiorecorded, transcribed and analysed thematically. RESULTS: Fifteen participants attended the online priority setting sessions. Criteria for prioritising digital health research fell into three themes, namely: public health benefit, health system-level factors and research process and feasibility. We identified criteria unique to digital health research as the availability of suitable governance frameworks, candidate technology's alignment with other technologies in use,and the possibility of data-driven insights from health technology data. The final selected use cases were remote monitoring of patients with pulmonary conditions, sepsis detection and automated breast screening. CONCLUSION: The criteria for determining digital health research priority areas are more nuanced than that of traditional health condition focused research and can neither be viewed solely through a clinical lens nor technological lens. As digital health research relies heavily on health technology implementation, digital health prioritisation criteria comprised enablers of successful technology implementation. Our prioritisation process could be applied to other settings and collaborative projects where research institutions partner with healthcare delivery organisations.

Barriers and facilitators to reducing paracetamol use in low back pain: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Paracetamol is widely used for low back pain (LBP), but research questions its efficacy and safety. Patient education booklets have been explored for promoting deprescribing, but barriers and facilitators specific to LBP deprescribing remain unexamined. OBJECTIVE: To identify contextual factors facilitating and obstructing successful deprescribing of paracetamol for LBP after receiving an educational booklet. STUDY DESIGN: This study is part of an uncontrolled cohort feasibility study (CEASE NOW) in the community, recruiting from Musculoskeletal Australia and painaustralia. PATIENT SAMPLE: Twenty-four participants with acute, sub-acute, or chronic LBP, self-reporting paracetamol consumption, were included. METHODS: Thematic content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data on barriers and facilitators. Data were categorized by deprescribing outcomes: i) successful deprescribing, ii) attempted but failed, or iii) no attempt. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted within one week after each participant completed the one-month follow-up. RESULTS: Successful deprescribing was facilitated by supportive healthcare professionals, willingness, high self-efficacy, fear of future illness, and diverse strategies for deprescribing plans. Barriers included unsupportive healthcare professionals and fear of flare-ups. Participants not attempting deprescribing believed it unnecessary, perceived it as effortful, unquestioningly trusted healthcare professionals, and lacked risk awareness. CONCLUSIONS: Support from healthcare professionals, patient willingness, perceived necessity, risk awareness, effort, and varied strategies influence deprescribing outcomes for LBP patients using paracetamol. Addressing these factors is crucial when designing interventions to promote safe and effective deprescribing in LBP management.

Developing resilient clinical trials: Lessons learned from rolling out the Get Back to Healthy trial during a pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused wide-spread disruptions to the conduct of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), particularly those involving public health services. Using the Get Back to Healthy trial as an example, this study aimed to contextualise the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic on implementation of RCTs involving public health services in Australia, summarise the effect of common and novel contingency strategies employed to mitigate these challenges, and describe key lessons learned. METHODS: The main challenges, the effect of contingency strategies employed, and key lessons learned were summarised descriptively. RESULTS: The main COVID-19-related challenge has been slow recruitment due to the suspension of clinical services for the trial target population. This challenge has been addressed through carefully considered adjustments to trial design (i.e., expanding the trial eligibility criteria), which has markedly improved trial recruitment rates. Other challenges have included the rapid transition to remote consent and data collection methods, increased complexity of monitoring participant safety, and future statistical challenges with disentangling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic from treatment effects. The key lessons learned are: (i) adaptations to trial design may be necessary during a pandemic; (ii) offering remote methods may encourage trial participation from all age groups during a pandemic; (iii) enhanced monitoring of safety is critical during a pandemic; (iv) statistical challenges are likely to occur and should be considered when interpreting trial results. CONCLUSION: Key lessons learned may be useful for informing the conduct of resilient RCTs, particularly those involving public health services, in the present and future.

Patient initiated radiology requests: proof of wellness through images.

BACKGROUND: Traditionally, general practitioners (GPs) have initiated the need for, and ordered, radiological tests. With the emergence of consumer-centred care, patients have started to request scans from doctors on their own initiative. Consumeristic health care has shifted the patient-doctor dyadic relationship, with GPs trending towards accommodating patients' requests. METHODS: A mixed method analysis was conducted using a survey instrument with open ended questions and concurrent interviews to explore participants' responses from their requests for radiological studies from GPs. Themes emerging from both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were mapped onto the Andersen Newman Model (ANM). RESULTS: Data were analysed for 'predisposing,' 'need' and 'enabling' elements of the ANM model and were correspondingly mapped to patient's requests for radiological referrals according to the elements of the ANM. Participants expressed anxiety about their health, were confident in the types of radiological scans they desired and typically indicated the need for evidence of good health. Their desire for such requested scans was often enabled through prior exposure to health information and the experience of specific symptoms. Requests came with the expectation of validation, and if these requests were denied, participants indicated that they would seek another doctor who would oblige. CONCLUSIONS: In our modest study of Australian patients, participants were well informed about their health. Exposure to information seems to create a sense of anxiousness prior to visiting the doctor. Individuals sought visual proof of wellness through imaging, and doctors in return often accommodated patient requests for radiological studies to appease patients' needs and to maintain workflow.

Patients' requests for radiological imaging: A qualitative study on general practitioners' perspectives.

BACKGROUND: With the increasing availability of information, patients are becoming more informed about radiology procedures and requesting imaging studies. This qualitative study aims to explore factors that influence general practitioners' (GPs) decisions to fulfil patient requests for imaging studies during clinical consultation. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 GPs working across five private medical centres in Northwest Sydney. Conventional content analysis was used with emergent themes to identify GPs perspectives. RESULTS: Six themes stood out from the interviews with GPs fulfilling patient requests for imaging studies. They included four pertaining to patient factors: patient expectations, 'therapeutic scans', 'impressive labels' and entitled. Two further themes pertained to the GP perspective and included defensive medicine, and 'new patients'. Requests are fulfilled from anxious or health-obsessed patients, with GPs worrying about litigation if they refuse. However, GPs decline requests from patients with entitlement attitudes or during first visits. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that GPs struggle to balance their responsibilities as gatekeepers of imaging with patients' expectations of request fulfilment. Clear guidelines on the appropriate use of diagnostic imaging and its limitations could help patients understand its proper use and ease anxiety. Additionally, education and training for GPs could help them manage patient expectations and provide appropriate care. PATIENT CONTRIBUTIONS: Patients, service users, caregivers, people with lived experiences or members of the public were not directly involved in the design, conduct, analysis or interpretation of the study. However, our study was conducted in primary care facilities where the GPs were interviewed about patients' requests for diagnostic imaging based on their own initiatives. GPs' perspectives in managing patient expectations and healthcare utilisation were explored within the Australian Medicare system, where medical imaging and image-guided procedures come at little to no cost to the individual. The study findings contribute to a better understanding of the challenges faced by GPs in dealing with patient consumerism and requests for diagnostic imaging, as well as factors influencing request fulfilment or denial. Insights gained from this study may inform future research about delivering patient-centred care within a similar context.

Patient and Clinician Perceptions of the Pulse Oximeter in a Remote Monitoring Setting for COVID-19: Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sydney Local Health District in New South Wales, Australia, launched the rpavirtual program, the first full-scale virtual hospital in Australia, to remotely monitor and follow up stable patients with COVID-19. As part of the intervention, a pulse oximeter wearable device was delivered to patients to monitor their oxygen saturation levels, a critical indicator of COVID-19 patient deterioration. Understanding users' perceptions toward the device is fundamental to assessing its usability and acceptability and contributing to the effectiveness of the intervention, but no research to date has explored the user experience of the pulse oximeter for remote monitoring in this setting. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the use, performance, and acceptability of the pulse oximeter by clinicians and patients in rpavirtual during COVID-19. METHODS: Semistructured interviews and usability testing were conducted. Stable adult patients with COVID-19 (aged ≥18 years) who used the pulse oximeter and were monitored by rpavirtual, and rpavirtual clinicians monitoring these patients were interviewed. Clinicians could be nurses, doctors, or staff who were part of the team that assisted patients with the use of the pulse oximeter. Usability testing was conducted with patients who had the pulse oximeter when they were contacted. Interviews were coded using the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability. Usability testing was conducted using a think-aloud protocol. Data were collected until saturation was reached. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients (average age 51, SD 13 years) and 15 clinicians (average age 41, SD 11 years) completed the interview. Eight patients (average age 51, SD 13 years) completed the usability testing. All participants liked the device and thought it was easy to use. They also had a good understanding of how to use the device and the device's purpose. Patients' age and device use-related characteristics (eg, the warmth of hands and hand steadiness) were identified by users as factors negatively impacting the accurate use of the pulse oximeter. CONCLUSIONS: Patients and clinicians had very positive perceptions of the pulse oximeter for COVID-19 remote monitoring, indicating high acceptability and usability of the device. However, factors that may impact the accuracy of the device should be considered when delivering interventions using the pulse oximeter for remote monitoring. Targeted instructions about the use of the device may be necessary for specific populations (eg, older people and patients unfamiliar with technology). Further research should focus on the integration of the pulse oximeter data into electronic medical records for real-time and secure patient monitoring.

Identifying barriers and facilitators to successful implementation of computerized clinical decision support systems in hospitals: a NASSS framework-informed scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Successful implementation and utilization of Computerized Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) in hospitals is complex and challenging. Implementation science, and in particular the Nonadoption, Abandonment, Scale-up, Spread and Sustainability (NASSS) framework, may offer a systematic approach for identifying and addressing these challenges. This review aimed to identify, categorize, and describe barriers and facilitators to CDSS implementation in hospital settings and map them to the NASSS framework. Exploring the applicability of the NASSS framework to CDSS implementation was a secondary aim. METHODS: Electronic database searches were conducted (21 July 2020; updated 5 April 2022) in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, PyscInfo, and CINAHL. Original research studies reporting on measured or perceived barriers and/or facilitators to implementation and adoption of CDSS in hospital settings, or attitudes of healthcare professionals towards CDSS were included. Articles with a primary focus on CDSS development were excluded. No language or date restrictions were applied. We used qualitative content analysis to identify determinants and organize them into higher-order themes, which were then reflexively mapped to the NASSS framework. RESULTS: Forty-four publications were included. These comprised a range of study designs, geographic locations, participants, technology types, CDSS functions, and clinical contexts of implementation. A total of 227 individual barriers and 130 individual facilitators were identified across the included studies. The most commonly reported influences on implementation were fit of CDSS with workflows (19 studies), the usefulness of the CDSS output in practice (17 studies), CDSS technical dependencies and design (16 studies), trust of users in the CDSS input data and evidence base (15 studies), and the contextual fit of the CDSS with the user's role or clinical setting (14 studies). Most determinants could be appropriately categorized into domains of the NASSS framework with barriers and facilitators in the "Technology," "Organization," and "Adopters" domains most frequently reported. No determinants were assigned to the "Embedding and Adaptation Over Time" domain. CONCLUSIONS: This review identified the most common determinants which could be targeted for modification to either remove barriers or facilitate the adoption and use of CDSS within hospitals. Greater adoption of implementation theory should be encouraged to support CDSS implementation.

What Goes Up, Must Come Down: A State-of-the-Art Electronic Health Record Downtime and Uptime Procedure in a Metropolitan Health Setting.

BACKGROUND: Electronic health records (EHRs) are used at most hospitals around the world, and downtime events are inevitable and common. Downtime represents a risky time for patients because patient information and critical EHR functionality are unavailable. Many institutions have used EHRs for years, with health professionals less likely to be familiar or comfortable with paper-based processes, resulting in an increased risk of errors during downtimes. There is currently limited guidance available on how to develop and operationalize downtime procedure at a local level. In this paper, we fill this gap by describing our state-of-the-art downtime and uptime procedure and its evaluation. METHOD: A district-wide downtime and uptime procedure was revised and standardized based on lessons learned from other health care organizations. The procedure outlines downtime and uptime preparations including downtime drills, downtime viewer auditing, and downtime education; downtime response including activating downtime and tracking patient changes; and uptime recovery including medication reconciliation and uptime documentation. IMPLEMENTATION: We implemented our new procedure across the district during an 8-hour planned downtime. A district downtime planning committee was formed, and a virtual command center was established to coordinate the downtime and uptime events. During downtime and uptime, onsite support was provided by the district's health informatics teams and clinicians. Data recovery was completed safely and efficiently with the revised uptime process. Following the event, we gathered staff feedback and reflections on implementing the procedure which highlighted its success but also revealed some areas for further improvement. CONCLUSION: In this paper, we describe a state-of-the-art EHR downtime and uptime procedure and lessons learned from its implementation. The implementation was successful with staff well prepared and information reconciled efficiently ensuring safe continuity of care. It was only through extensive planning, significant commitment, and engagement of all stakeholders that this outcome was possible.

Usability and Acceptability of Clinical Dashboards in Aged Care: Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: The use of clinical dashboards in aged care systems to support performance review and improve outcomes for older adults receiving care is increasing. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to explore evidence from studies of the acceptability and usability of clinical dashboards including their visual features and functionalities in aged care settings. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted using 5 databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL) from inception to April 2022. Studies were included in the review if they were conducted in aged care environments (home-based community care, retirement villages, and long-term care) and reported a usability or acceptability evaluation of a clinical dashboard for use in aged care environments, including specific dashboard visual features (eg, a qualitative summary of individual user experience or metrics from a usability scale). Two researchers independently reviewed the articles and extracted the data. Data synthesis was performed via narrative review, and the risk of bias was measured using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. RESULTS: In total, 14 articles reporting on 12 dashboards were included. The quality of the articles varied. There was considerable heterogeneity in implementation setting (home care 8/14, 57%), dashboard user groups (health professionals 9/14, 64%), and sample size (range 3-292). Dashboard features included a visual representation of information (eg, medical condition prevalence), analytic capability (eg, predictive), and others (eg, stakeholder communication). Dashboard usability was mixed (4 dashboards rated as high), and dashboard acceptability was high for 9 dashboards. Most users considered dashboards to be informative, relevant, and functional, highlighting the use and intention of using this resource in the future. Dashboards that had the presence of one or more of these features (bar charts, radio buttons, checkboxes or other symbols, interactive displays, and reporting capabilities) were found to be highly acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive summary of clinical dashboards used in aged care is provided to inform future dashboard development, testing, and implementation. Further research is required to optimize visualization features, usability, and acceptability of dashboards in aged care.

Does Involving Clinicians in Decision Support Development Facilitate System Use Over Time? A Systematic Review.

Involving clinician users in the design and development of Clinical Decision Support (CDS) systems is touted to improve the fit between system and user needs. However, the impact of clinician involvement on CDS acceptance and use in practice has not been systematically studied. This review aimed to identify the approaches taken to involve clinicians in CDS development and understand the impact of these approaches on barriers and facilitators to acceptance and use in hospital settings over time. Twenty-three studies met full inclusion criteria. Clinician involvement was rarely described in depth and no comparative studies were identified. Despite frequently reporting perceived ease of use, included studies still reported barriers to acceptance and use shortly after CDS implementation and years later. Future studies should report clinician involvement in adequate detail to enable understanding of its impact on CDS acceptance and use over time. Additional recommendations for future research, including conducting comparative studies and maintaining clinician involvement beyond implementation, are described.