Can computerised decision support systems deliver improved quality in primary care?

Computerised decision support systems or “expert systems” are computer software systems that are designed to aid clinical decision making Computerised decision support has been defined as provision of assessments or prompts specific to the patient and selected from a knowledge base on the basis of individual patient data.1 At its simplest this definition will include programs that suggest alternatives for treatment or diagnosis on the basis of a simple algorithm. More complex systems model the likelihood of future events and the effectiveness of proposed interventions based on individual patient data and “knowledge” of risks and the effectiveness of interventions.2

Primary care more than any other specialty is characterised by uncertainty This is not only because it is the first point of contact and the recipient of undifferentiated problems, but also because primary care has the role of monitoring and providing optimal continuing care for many common chronic conditions. Improvement of quality by a reduction of the variation in primary care practice is a key component of UK national health policy.3 Computerised decision support systems have potential to drive reminders, provide alerts for prescribing interactions or test results, interpret complex investigations (or electrocardiograms), predict mortality on the basis of epidemiological data, aid diagnosis, and calculate drug doses. The question examined by this review is how may computerised decision support systems contribute to improving quality in primarycare?