Model of good practice tools for risk reduction and clinical governance

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are expected to support Healthcare Professionals in reducing medical errors, making the most relevant decisions and finding the most appropriate procedure for each patient. In particular, Knowledge Management and Decision Support Systems provide access to high quality information and to appropriate protocols. The present paper aims at comparing the approaches used in three ongoing R&D projects in order to support risk reduction and clinical governance. This comparison will lead to the presentation of a generic model of Decision Support Tools that transform shared and documented "Good Practices" into software entities that can pro-actively advice users in their daily work or when they encounter difficult situations.