Automating Guidelines for Clinical Decision Support: Knowledge Engineering and Implementation

Abstract

As utilization of clinical decision support (CDS) increases, it is important to continue the development and refinement of methods to accurately translate the intention of clinical practice guidelines (CPG) into a computable form. In this study, we validate and extend the 13 steps that Shiffman et al.⁵ identified for translating CPG knowledge for use in CDS. During an implementation project of ATHENA-CDS, we encoded complex CPG recommendations for five common chronic conditions for integration into an existing clinical dashboard. Major decisions made during the implementation process were recorded and categorized according to the 13 steps. During the implementation period, we categorized 119 decisions and identified 8 new categories required to complete the project. We provide details on an updated model that outlines all of the steps used to translate CPG knowledge into a CDS integrated with existing health information technology.

Figure 1.

Activity diagram of updated CDS implementation model.