Abstracto

Clinical decision support systems for utilization of CT in the emergency department

Ivan K Ip, & Frank S Drescher

Over the past two decades, healthcare costs have been growing at a rate that is unsustainable. Despite its vast utility, diagnostic medical imaging has been a culprit of the rising healthcare expenditure. Health information technology, particularly clinical decision support systems, has been promoted as a tool that can potentially improve the efficiency of imaging delivery by encouraging appropriateness of testing, thereby decreasing unnecessary radiation exposure and costs. Despite some promising early results, evidence of clinical decision support systems on imaging utilization in the emergency department remains sparse. Nevertheless, health information technology provides promising opportunities for translational and implementational research. Further research is needed to understand the barriers to clinical adoption and broad implementation in the community.