Decision Support for Heart Failure Prescribing

Description

Clinical decision support (CDS) tools can 'nudge' clinicians to make the best decisions easy. Although required by "meaningful use" regulations, more than 40% of CDS lead to no change and the remaining lead to improvements that are modest at best. This is because CDS tools often ignore contextual factors and present irrelevant information. Although many tools have undergone patient-specific optimization, 'traditional CDS' are rarely clinician-specific. For example, a traditional CDS tool for beta blockers and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) addresses common prescribing misconceptions by stating asthma is not a contraindication and providing a safe threshold for blood pressure. For clinicians without these misconceptions, these statements are irrelevant and distract from key information. A 'personalized CDS' would evaluate clinician past prescribing patterns to determine whether prescribing misconceptions might exist and then conditionally present information to address those misconceptions. The objective of this research is to create personalized clinician-specific CDS that overcome shortcomings of traditional CDS. The central hypothesis is a personalized CDS that minimizes irrelevant information will lead to a higher rate of prescribing guideline-directed management and therapy (GDMT) for HFrEF compared to a traditional CDS.

Conditions

Decision Support Systems, Clinical, Heart Failure

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

Clinical decision support (CDS) tools can 'nudge' clinicians to make the best decisions easy. Although required by "meaningful use" regulations, more than 40% of CDS lead to no change and the remaining lead to improvements that are modest at best. This is because CDS tools often ignore contextual factors and present irrelevant information. Although many tools have undergone patient-specific optimization, 'traditional CDS' are rarely clinician-specific. For example, a traditional CDS tool for beta blockers and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) addresses common prescribing misconceptions by stating asthma is not a contraindication and providing a safe threshold for blood pressure. For clinicians without these misconceptions, these statements are irrelevant and distract from key information. A 'personalized CDS' would evaluate clinician past prescribing patterns to determine whether prescribing misconceptions might exist and then conditionally present information to address those misconceptions. The objective of this research is to create personalized clinician-specific CDS that overcome shortcomings of traditional CDS. The central hypothesis is a personalized CDS that minimizes irrelevant information will lead to a higher rate of prescribing guideline-directed management and therapy (GDMT) for HFrEF compared to a traditional CDS.

New Solutions to Support Evidence-based Prescribing for Heart Failure

Decision Support for Heart Failure Prescribing

Condition
Decision Support Systems, Clinical
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Aurora

UCHealth Primary Care and Cardiology Outpatient Clinics, Aurora, Colorado, United States, 80045

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * The study subjects are potential users of the CDS, specifically clinicians with prescribing privileges who practice at one of the health system's (UCHealth) outpatient cardiology or primary care clinics. Because we are observing their prescribing behaviors, we are also evaluating patient characteristics which could influence their prescribing decisions.
  • * Clinicians who do not practice in cardiology or primary care clinics or do not practice within UCHealth system.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 Years to 89 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Collaborators and Investigators

University of Colorado, Denver,

Katy R Trinkley, PharmD, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, University of Colorado, Denver

Study Record Dates

2025-09