Chapter 11Clinical Decision Support Systems

Clinical decision support includes a variety of tools and interventions, computerized as well as non- computerized. Non-computerized tools include clinical guidelines or digital clinical decision support resources like ClinicalKey® or UpToDate ® [1, 2]. Such clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are characterized as tools for information management. Another category of CDSS sometimes also called basic or simple clinical decision support systems are tools to help focus attention. Examples of such CDSS include laboratory information systems (LISs) highlighting critical care values or pharmacy information systems (PISs) presenting an alert ordering a new drug and proposing a possible drug-drug interaction. Most focus in the past few decades however has gone to tools to provide patient-specific recommendations called advanced CDSS. Advanced CDSS may include, for example, checking drug disease interactions, individualized dosing support during renal impairment, or recommendations on laboratory testing during drug use.