Implementing an electronic medical record-based clinical decision support tool has the potential to improve antimicrobial stewardship through de-escalation, according to research published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
Researchers experimented with the creation of an electronic decision aid through collecting best practices and creating system alerts for relevant patient data. Alerts directed physicians to an interface with antibiotic recommendations, order management capabilities, evidence-based clinical information and relevant patient data.
After the implementation of the decision aid, general antibiotic use and broad-spectrum antibiotic use decreased without changes in clinical outcomes.
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