Clinical decision support systems and how critical care clinicians use them

Abstract

This technology overview examines the different types of clinical decision support systems and reviews how critical care physicians and registered nurses integrate these systems in their medical and nursing practices. The decision-making process is analyzed with a focus on how automated systems attempt to capture and reflect this human process in technology applications in critical care. Types of clinical decision support systems are described with an emphasis on how the varieties of systems actually organize and process information and create outcome estimations based on patient clinical indicators and prognosis logarithms. Demographic characteristics of clinicians and the implications of those demographics for patterns of decision system use, based on the body of user research, are reviewed.