Do computerised clinical decision support systems for prescribing change practice? A systematic review of the literature (1990-2007)

Computerised clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) are used widely to improve quality of care and patient outcomes. This systematic review evaluated the impact of CDSSs in targeting specific aspects of prescribing, namely initiating, monitoring and stopping therapy. We also examined the influence of clinical setting (institutional vs ambulatory care), system- or user-initiation of CDSS, multi-faceted vs stand alone CDSS interventions and clinical target on practice changes in line with the intent of the CDSS. We searched Medline, Embase and PsychINFO for publications from 1990-2007 detailing CDSS prescribing interventions. Pairs of independent reviewers extracted the key features and prescribing outcomes of methodologically adequate studies (experiments and strong quasi-experiments). 56 studies met our inclusion criteria, 38 addressing initiating, 23 monitoring and three stopping therapy. At the time of initiating therapy, CDSSs appear to be somewhat more effective after, rather than before, drug selection has occurred (7/12 versus 12/26 studies reporting statistically significant improvements in favour of CDSSs on = 50% of prescribing outcomes reported). CDSSs also appeared to be effective for monitoring therapy, particularly using laboratory test reminders (4/7 studies reporting significant improvements in favour of CDSSs on the majority of prescribing outcomes). None of the studies addressing stopping therapy demonstrated impacts in favour of CDSSs over comparators. The most consistently effective approaches used system-initiated advice to fine-tune existing therapy by making recommendations to improve patient safety, adjust the dose, duration or form of prescribed drugs or increase the laboratory testing rates for patients on long-term therapy. CDSSs appeared to perform better in institutional compared to ambulatory settings and when decision support was initiated automatically by the system as opposed to user initiation. CDSSs implemented with other strategies such as education were no more successful in improving prescribing than stand alone interventions. Cardiovascular disease was the most studied clinical target but few studies demonstrated significant improvements on the majority of prescribing outcomes. Our understanding of CDSS impacts on specific aspects of the prescribing process remains relatively limited. Future implementation should build on effective approaches including the use of system-initiated advice to address safety issues and improve the monitoring of therapy

Safety of Lobar Hepatic Arterial Embolization in Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Patients with Underlying Gilbert\u27s Disease

Introduction ❖ Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular malignant tumor in adults. ❖ Up to half of all patients develop systemic metastases, with liver involvement in \u3e90% of patients.1 ❖ Various liver-directed, locoregional therapies (i.e. chemoembolization, immunoembolization, radioembolization, and ablation) have played a significant role in prolonging the lives of patients with metastatic uveal melanoma.2 ❖ Elevated bilirubin levels are typically considered a relative contraindication for lobar hepatic arterial embolization treatment, given mainly the increased risk of precipitating hepatic failure. ❖ Gilbert\u27s syndrome, also known as benign unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia, is a hereditary disorder of bilirubin conjugation. Gilbert’s syndrome leads to elevated levels of serum bilirubin, that do not truly reflect cholestasis or liver failure and therefore should not exclude patients from targeted embolization therapy.3 Poster presented at: World Conference on Interventional Oncology in Boston MA.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/medoncposters/1003/thumbnail.jp