|
Description:
|
Based on clinical events and a centralized patient database, the Clinical Event Monitor generates alerts, interpretations, screening messages, etc. for health care providers throughout the medical center.
The Clinical Event Monitor is a automated decision support system that is triggered by clinical events throughout the medical center, including admit-discharge-transfer events, the storage of laboratory results, the storage of reports from ancillary departments, the processing of pharmacy orders, etc. The system reads a centralized patient database that includes coded registration information, laboratory results, radiology findings (via natural language processing), medication orders, and text reports from most ancillary departments. Based on the events and data, the system generates emergent alerts (about 50 per day), informational interpretations (about 2,000 per day), and screening messages for clinical research, quality assurance, and administration (e.g., billing rules). The system runs for all the medical center's patients, and all health care providers have access to the generated messages.
The system has been in clinical use since March 1992. There are about 100 MLMs (rules) at present, which concentrate on laboratory alerts, lab-drug interactions, health maintenance protocols, tuberculosis follow-up, administrative rules, and screening messages for research and quality assurance. There is anecdotal evidence of success, and formal studies are in progress.
|