Medical professionals experience varied information needs when dealing with patients in the process of making informed diagnoses and treatment decisions. As a direct consequence, identifying information which is important to clinicians at the point of care and identifying a framework through which such information can be accurately and efficiently provided to clinicians has assumed critical importance in modern clinical settings (Mei et al., 2010).
There exists a multiplicity of clinical information systems that clinicians and patients can use to access important clinical information, but the two most used platforms include the management information systems and the clinical decision support systems (Solomon, 2008).
This report describes the clinical decision support system for Diabetes and also discusses how this platform could be improved to provide optimal measurable outcomes for clinicians and patients. According to Solomon (2008), integrated clinical information systems such as clinical decision support systems are fundamental to successful chronic care management by their capacity to support access to, and sharing of, health information and expertise among members of a multi-disciplinary care team.
The clinical decision support system for Diabetes has enabled clinicians in the health facility to access important health information about this chronic condition, thereby fostering collaborative activities among the clinicians and a marked reduction in medical errors. This system also assists clinicians to standardize treatment procedures by providing information and best practices for dealing with cases of Diabetes.
Through the clinical decision support system, clinicians at the health facility can share information with colleagues and Diabetes agencies, creating an environment whereby Diabetes patients are treated from an informed perspective due to easy accessibility of critical information on treatment and management.
Despite the gains made so far, it is imperative to consider improving the current clinical decision support system to a more patient-centered model, where patients can be empowered to have self-management and self-monitoring skills for better disease management. With the support of clinicians and the health facility, patients with Diabetes can be actively engaged in managing the daily challenges that come with the condition.
Solomon (2008) acknowledges that “…the application of information technology (IT) to support self-management extends the reach of the provider organization by linking patients to the exchange of health information and facilitating self-management activities” (p. 391).
As such, the current clinical decision support system needs to be expanded to incorporate the patients and create an effective channel where patients could use web-based applications to access the health facility’s clinical decision support system for important information that will enhance their self-management skills.
The above-stated improvement, in my view, will result in the efficient and timely delivery of services to populations who need them. When patients are empowered with the capacity to make informed decisions about their health challenges, the amount of time that clinicians take to attend to patients will be reduced, treatment outcomes becomes substantially effective.
Level of patient satisfaction considerably increases, and medical costs are likely to come down (Hsueh-Chun et al., 2011). Consequently, treatment times, the effectiveness of treatment, level of patient satisfaction and variations in medical costs will serve as the measurable outcomes for this improvement.
In addition to these outcomes, it is known that such a customer-centered clinical decision support system will save lives as patients will have the necessary information and Diabetes management skills at their fingertips.
Reference List
Hsueh-Chun, L., Hsi-Chin, W., Chih-Hung, C., Tsai-Chung, L., Wen-Miin, L., & Jonge-Yi, W.W. (2011). Development of a real-time clinical decision support system upon the MVC-based architecture for prostate cancer treatment. BMC Medical Informatics & Decision Making, 11(1), 16-26. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier Database
Mei, S., Spallek, H., Polk, D., Schleyer, T., & Wali, T. (2010). How information systems should support the information needs of general dentists in clinical settings: Suggestions from a qualitative study. BMC Medical Informatics & Decision Making, 10(1), 7-15. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier Database
Solomon, M.R. (2008). Information technology to support self-management in chronic care. Disease Management & Health Outcomes, 16(6), 391-401. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier Database