Improving antibiotic prescribing for adults with community acquired pneumonia: Does a computerised decision support system achieve more than academic detailing alone?--A time series analysis

• Published in: BMC medical informatics and decision making Vol. 8; no. 1; p. 35
• Main Authors: Buising, Kirsty L, Thursky, Karin A, Black, James F, MacGregor, Lachlan, Street, Alan C, Kennedy, Marcus P, Brown, Graham V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 31.07.2008; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Australia; Bacterial pneumonia; Cohort Studies; Community-Acquired Infections - drug therapy; Decision Support Systems, Clinical; Drug therapy; Drug Therapy, Computer-Assisted; Emergency Medical Services; Female; Guideline Adherence; Hospitals, Teaching; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Medical records; Methods; Middle Aged; Pneumonia; Pneumonia - drug therapy; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Practice Patterns, Physicians' - statistics & numerical data; Prescription writing; Australia
• ISSN: 1472-6947; 1472-6947
• DOI: 10.1186/1472-6947-8-35

The ideal method to encourage uptake of clinical guidelines in hospitals is not known. Several strategies have been suggested. This study evaluates the impact of academic detailing and a computerised decision support system (CDSS) on clinicians' prescribing behaviour for patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP). The management of all patients presenting to the emergency department over three successive time periods was evaluated; the baseline, academic detailing and CDSS periods. The rate of empiric antibiotic prescribing that was concordant with recommendations was studied over time comparing pre and post periods and using an interrupted time series analysis. The odds ratio for concordant therapy in the academic detailing period, after adjustment for age, illness severity and suspicion of aspiration, compared with the baseline period was OR = 2.79 [1.88, 4.14], p < 0.01, and for the computerised decision support period compared to the academic detailing period was OR = 1.99 [1.07, 3.69], p = 0.02. During the first months of the computerised decision support period an improvement in the appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing was demonstrated, which was greater than that expected to have occurred with time and academic detailing alone, based on predictions from a binary logistic model. Deployment of a computerised decision support system was associated with an early improvement in antibiotic prescribing practices which was greater than the changes seen with academic detailing. The sustainability of this intervention requires further evaluation.