Clinical Decision Support

With the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), primary care providers have the opportunity to receive financial support for investing in and using electronic health records (EHRs) in a manner that will improve health care quality andefficiency. Some may seek to incorporate EHRs into their existing workflows, without undertaking significant changes in their day-today work. Unfortunately, simply using an electronic substitute for paper clinical notes is not likely to lead to improvements in health care quality or cost. Quality and cost are more likely to improve by leveraging enhanced technologies to ensure that patients receive appropriate preventive care and proper management of chronic conditions. The patient-centered medical home encourages the use of health information technology (HIT), including clinical decision support (CDS), to improve health care quality and decrease overall cost to the national health care system.

This resource, Clinical Decision Support in the Medical Home, is a guide that defines clinical decision support and describes its role in the PCMH for enhancing quality and lowering costs. Authored by the PCPCC’s Center for eHealth Information Adoption and Exchange, the resource presents the types of clinical decision support available, ways to implement it smoothly into the physician practice and keys to effective use. It also outlines how clinical decision support can help primary care providers demonstrate they have met the federal government’s “meaningful use” criteria, which is required for them to tap into ARRA funding. 

This guide is available below