NBHC Sustainability
August 16, 2018
Research from California's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Optum Advisory Services reveals that when physicians follow computer alerts embedded in EHRs, hospitalized patients face fewer complications and lower costs, leave the hospital sooner and are less likely to be readmitted. The study of alerts based on the Choosing Wisely initiative that popped up on physician computer screens when their care instructions deviated from evidence-based guidelines inpatient visits in which one or more of the 18 most frequent alerts was triggered. Its findings include:
- In 6% of visits, physicians in the "treatment group" followed all triggered alerts; in the remaining 94% of visits, physicians in the "control group" followed none of the triggered alerts;
- For patients whose physicians didn't follow the alerts, the odds of complications increased by 29% compared to the group whose physicians followed the alerts; and
- The odds of hospital readmissions within 30 days of the patients' original visits was 14% higher in the group whose physicians didn't follow the alerts. Patients of these physicians also saw a 6.2% increase in their length of stay.
Related News:
Following Choosing Wisely with real-time support tools trimmed hospital stays, cost in AJMC study - AJMC