This week we learned about the potential benefits and drawbacks to clinical decision support systems (CDSSs). Create a “Pros” versus “Cons” table with a column for “Pro” and a separate column for “Con”. Include at least 3 items for each column. Next to each item, provide a brief rationale as to why you included it on the respective list.
The primary goal of a CDSS is to leverage data and the scientific evidence to help guide appropriate decision making. CDSSs directly assist the clinician in making decisions about specific patients. For this discussion thread post, you are to assume your future role as an APN and create a clinical patient and scenario to illustrate an exemplary depiction of how a CDSS might influence your decision. This post is an opportunity for you to be innovative, so have fun!
Solution:
In recent years, clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) have increasingly become essential tools in the health care system. This has been triggered by an increase in the amount of data available and the need to deliver value-based care. In this view, the table below shows the potential benefits and drawbacks of CDSSs.
| Pros | Cons |
| Enhanced quality of care and health outcomes.
A study by Casmir (2015 reported that CDSSs have the potential to reduce medical errors by helping the clinician in preventing adverse drug reactions and inappropriate drug dosage. CDSSs provide different modes of decision support such as alerts, reminders, advice, and suggestion for improved care. Therefore, by preventing errors, CDSSs increases the quality of care and enhance patients’ health outcomes. |
High dependence on repositories.
CDSSs rely heavily on high-quality clinical repository data. This means that there ought to be a standard representation of data, storage as well as easy retrieval of data in the knowledge base repository (Casmir, 2015). In the absence of quality data, the quality of advice provided by CDSSs is likely to be poor. |
….Please click the icon below to purchase the full solution at $5