Comparative effectiveness of generic commercial versus locally customized clinical decision support tools to reduce prescription of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for patients with heart failure.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of 2 clinical decision support (CDS) tools to avoid prescription of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients with heart failure (HF): a "commercial" and a locally "customized" alert. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 2 CDS tools implemented within a large integrated health system. The commercial CDS tool was designed according to third-party drug content and EHR vendor specifications. The customized CDS tool underwent a user-centered design process informed by implementation science principles, with input from a cross disciplinary team. The customized CDS tool replaced the commercial CDS tool. Data were collected from the electronic health record via analytic reports and manual chart review. The primary outcome was effectiveness, defined as whether the clinician changed their behavior and did not prescribe an NSAID. RESULTS: A random sample of 366 alerts (183 per CDS tool) was evaluated that represented 355 unique patients. The commercial CDS tool was effective for 7 of 172 (4%) patients, while the customized CDS tool was effective for 81 of 183 (44%) patients. After adjusting for age, chronic kidney disease, ejection fraction, NYHA class, concurrent prescription of an opioid or acetaminophen, visit type (inpatient or outpatient), and clinician specialty, the customized alerts were at 24.3 times greater odds of effectiveness compared to the commercial alerts (OR: 24.3 CI: 10.20-58.06). CONCLUSION: Investing additional resources to customize a CDS tool resulted in a CDS tool that was more effective at reducing the total number of NSAID orders placed for patients with HF compared to a commercially available CDS tool.

Clinical informatics accelerates health system adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic: examples from Colorado.

OBJECTIVE: Large health systems responding to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic face a broad range of challenges; we describe 14 examples of innovative and effective informatics interventions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A team of 30 physician and 17 nurse informaticists with an electronic health record (EHR) and associated informatics tools. RESULTS: To meet the demands posed by the influx of patients with COVID-19 into the health system, the team built solutions to accomplish the following goals: 1) train physicians and nurses quickly to manage a potential surge of hospital patients; 2) build and adjust interactive visual pathways to guide decisions; 3) scale up video visits and teach best-practice communication; 4) use tablets and remote monitors to improve in-hospital and posthospital patient connections; 5) allow hundreds of physicians to build rapid consensus; 6) improve the use of advance care planning; 7) keep clinicians aware of patients' changing COVID-19 status; 8) connect nurses and families in new ways; 9) semi-automate Crisis Standards of Care; and 10) predict future hospitalizations. DISCUSSION: During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UCHealth Joint Informatics Group applied a strategy of "practical informatics" to rapidly translate critical leadership decisions into understandable guidance and effective tools for patient care. CONCLUSION: Informatics-trained physicians and nurses drew upon their trusted relationships with multiple teams within the organization to create practical solutions for onboarding, clinical decision-making, telehealth, and predictive analytics.