Manijeh Ariaei; Afshin Sarafi Nejad; Jamileh Kouti; Zahra Mehdipour; Kambiz Bahaadinbeigy
Volume 9, Issue 5 , November and December 2012, , Pages 711-723
Abstract
Introduction: Computerized clinical decision support systems (CDSS) can be effective inreducing certain types of medical errors. This study aimed to assess the viewpoints of physiciansand nurses about practical use of these systems to prevent or decrease the incidence of errors.Methods: In a two-month ...
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Introduction: Computerized clinical decision support systems (CDSS) can be effective inreducing certain types of medical errors. This study aimed to assess the viewpoints of physiciansand nurses about practical use of these systems to prevent or decrease the incidence of errors.Methods: In a two-month cross-sectional study using two valid and consistent researcher-madequestionnaires, the viewpoints of one hundred physicians and nurses from university hospitals ofKerman University of Medical Sciences were collected concerning some of the important errorsin treatment process and nursing care that are preventable by alert or reminder systems.Results: All of the study subjects i.e. 65 females and 35 males from physicians and nurses filledout the questionnaires. Among them, 86% of the physicians and 90% of the nurses believed in thepossibility of medical errors and 88% of the participants agreed that using efficient computerizedsystems reduces medical errors. According to most of the responses, computer systems havepositive effects on reducing bed sore and emboli occurrences, eliminating physicians’ illegiblehand-writing and improvement of quality health care services due to accessing to the up-to-dateinformation. Moreover, nearly all the participants believed that computer systems have positiveeffects on reducing drug allergies and interactions as well as improvement of prescription qualitythrough availability of patient’s medical history. The top priorities for physicians were access toup-to-date information and alert about severe drug allergies and interactions, respectively; whilefor nurses, the top priorities were preventing bed sore and emboli and important issues in hightrafficwards.Conclusion: Staff of hospitals of Kerman University of Medical Sciences believed thatcomputerized CDSS, either through reminders or alert systems, are effective to reduce errors inpatient care. These findings might be influencing for development and use of these systems
