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. 2021 Nov 18;9(11):e30743.
doi: 10.2196/30743.

Implementation of an Anticoagulation Practice Guideline for COVID-19 via a Clinical Decision Support System in a Large Academic Health System and Its Evaluation: Observational Study

Surbhi Shah  1 , Sean Switzer  1 , Nathan D Shippee  1 , Pamela Wogensen  2 , Kathryn Kosednar  2 , Emma Jones  3 , Deborah L Pestka  4 , Sameer Badlani  2 , Mary Butler  5 , Brittin Wagner  5 , Katie White  5 , Joshua Rhein  6 , Bradley Benson  6 , Mark Reding  6 , Michael Usher  6 , Genevieve B Melton  3 , Christopher James Tignanelli  3
Affiliations

Implementation of an Anticoagulation Practice Guideline for COVID-19 via a Clinical Decision Support System in a Large Academic Health System and Its Evaluation: Observational Study

Surbhi Shah et al. JMIR Med Inform. .

Abstract

Background: Studies evaluating strategies for the rapid development, implementation, and evaluation of clinical decision support (CDS) systems supporting guidelines for diseases with a poor knowledge base, such as COVID-19, are limited.

Objective: We developed an anticoagulation clinical practice guideline (CPG) for COVID-19, which was delivered and scaled via CDS across a 12-hospital Midwest health care system. This study represents a preplanned 6-month postimplementation evaluation guided by the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) framework.

Methods: The implementation outcomes evaluated were reach, adoption, implementation, and maintenance. To evaluate effectiveness, the association of CPG adherence on hospital admission with clinical outcomes was assessed via multivariable logistic regression and nearest neighbor propensity score matching. A time-to-event analysis was conducted. Sensitivity analyses were also conducted to evaluate the competing risk of death prior to intensive care unit (ICU) admission. The models were risk adjusted to account for age, gender, race/ethnicity, non-English speaking status, area deprivation index, month of admission, remdesivir treatment, tocilizumab treatment, steroid treatment, BMI, Elixhauser comorbidity index, oxygen saturation/fraction of inspired oxygen ratio, systolic blood pressure, respiratory rate, treating hospital, and source of admission. A preplanned subgroup analysis was also conducted in patients who had laboratory values (D-dimer, C-reactive protein, creatinine, and absolute neutrophil to absolute lymphocyte ratio) present. The primary effectiveness endpoint was the need for ICU admission within 48 hours of hospital admission.

Results: A total of 2503 patients were included in this study. CDS reach approached 95% during implementation. Adherence achieved a peak of 72% during implementation. Variation was noted in adoption across sites and nursing units. Adoption was the highest at hospitals that were specifically transformed to only provide care to patients with COVID-19 (COVID-19 cohorted hospitals; 74%-82%) and the lowest in academic settings (47%-55%). CPG delivery via the CDS system was associated with improved adherence (odds ratio [OR] 1.43, 95% CI 1.2-1.7; P<.001). Adherence with the anticoagulation CPG was associated with a significant reduction in the need for ICU admission within 48 hours (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.30-0.51; P<.001) on multivariable logistic regression analysis. Similar findings were noted following 1:1 propensity score matching for patients who received adherent versus nonadherent care (21.5% vs 34.3% incidence of ICU admission within 48 hours; log-rank test P<.001).

Conclusions: Our institutional experience demonstrated that adherence with the institutional CPG delivered via the CDS system resulted in improved clinical outcomes for patients with COVID-19. CDS systems are an effective means to rapidly scale a CPG across a heterogeneous health care system. Further research is needed to investigate factors associated with adherence at low and high adopting sites and nursing units.

Keywords: COVID-19; RE-AIM; anticoagulation; clinical decision support; clinical practice guideline; evidence-based practice; implementation science.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overall development, dissemination, implementation, and evaluation strategy. CDS: clinical decision support; D&I: Dissemination and Implementation; CPG: clinical practice guideline; D2K: data to knowledge; K2P: knowledge to practice; P2D: practice to data; RE-AIM: Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average implementation reach by month. The blue line represents the combined CPG (patient received adherent anticoagulation) and CDS reach (patient’s ordering providers received the CDS system suggesting adherent anticoagulation) by month. The red line represents only CDS reach. CDS: clinical decision support; CPG, clinical practice guideline.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Average implementation reach by month. (A) Average CPG reach by health care system by month. CDS: clinical decision support; CPG: clinical practice guideline.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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