Clinical Decision Support (CDS) refers broadly to providing clinicians or patients with clinical knowledge and patient-related information, intelligently filtered or presented at appropriate times, to enhance patient care. Clinical knowledge of interest could range from simple facts and relationships to best practices for managing patients with specific disease states, new medical knowledge from clinical research and other types of information.
CDS goals and objectives are the target healthcare processes and outcomes that CDS efforts are intended to achieve. Goals are high-level or strategic targets such as increasing patient safety; objectives are more specific, tactical targets, such as increasing the use of specific life-saving medications in appropriate circumstances.
Clinical Engineering Collaboration Web Site Launches
The new Clinical Engineering/IT (CEIT) community, made possible by a joint effort between AAMI, ACCE, and HIMSS, launched its new Web site today. The collaboration aims to pool resources on IT issues and develop guidance documents, share best practices, and promote an understanding of the issues surrounding the integration of IT and clinical engineering. The new site features more in-depth details about the joint effort and how to get involved.
Aetna Helps Patients, Physicians Improve Outcomes with New Online Capabilities
Health care benefit company Aetna announced several new online features and services aimed at physicians which will provide prescribing and clinical decision support through the Web. Consumer PHR tools will also be rolled out to Aetna members later this year.
