CINA unveils CDS to improve patient-physician interaction
Clinical Integration Networks of America (CINA) of Garland, Texas, is offering a vendor-neutral clinical decision support (CDS) system that runs in parallel with many of the major EMR software packages.
“Unfortunately, many of the current studies suggest that CDS systems don’t really change doctors’ behaviors very much and really don’t improve patient care quality either. Our experience has shown us that the reason for these negative results is that the decision support that is built into the system will only work if the physician or provider documents information in the EMR where it is expected and how it is expected, which seldom occurs,” Jim May, president of CINA, told Health Imaging News.
May also pointed to the ineffectual alerts and pop-ups within CDS systems that are disregarded by physicians.
“In response to these problems, we have created a vendor-neutral CDS system, meaning we read the data from any of the major vendors, and we apply the same set of rules, regardless of what system the practice has,” May said.
“We [at CINA] have focused on the rules that are primarily used by primary care physicians, which tend to be disease management and chronic disease prevention guidelines. We’ve also encoded the rules from the National Quality Foundation, Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and a number of disease-specific guidelines. These guidelines are typically used to assess pay-for-performance programs, quality reporting and quality measures,” according to May.
As a result, CINA’s CDS can interact with any system, regardless of how the practice uses that system. “Our CDS will find the data, and it will run a complex set of rules against any system. For every patient that walks into the office each day, a one-page sheet, a point-of-care report, will be produced that will detail what that patient needs to be in compliance with the national guidelines,” May said.
The CINA Protocol Engine (CPE) is a software system that will also permit most any provider to implement clinical guidelines. The CPE can read data from most sources currently available within a clinical practice, including EHRs, practice management systems, lab information systems, clinical data repositories, patient registries and other sources.
“Unfortunately, many of the current studies suggest that CDS systems don’t really change doctors’ behaviors very much and really don’t improve patient care quality either. Our experience has shown us that the reason for these negative results is that the decision support that is built into the system will only work if the physician or provider documents information in the EMR where it is expected and how it is expected, which seldom occurs,” Jim May, president of CINA, told Health Imaging News.
May also pointed to the ineffectual alerts and pop-ups within CDS systems that are disregarded by physicians.
“In response to these problems, we have created a vendor-neutral CDS system, meaning we read the data from any of the major vendors, and we apply the same set of rules, regardless of what system the practice has,” May said.
“We [at CINA] have focused on the rules that are primarily used by primary care physicians, which tend to be disease management and chronic disease prevention guidelines. We’ve also encoded the rules from the National Quality Foundation, Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and a number of disease-specific guidelines. These guidelines are typically used to assess pay-for-performance programs, quality reporting and quality measures,” according to May.
As a result, CINA’s CDS can interact with any system, regardless of how the practice uses that system. “Our CDS will find the data, and it will run a complex set of rules against any system. For every patient that walks into the office each day, a one-page sheet, a point-of-care report, will be produced that will detail what that patient needs to be in compliance with the national guidelines,” May said.
The CINA Protocol Engine (CPE) is a software system that will also permit most any provider to implement clinical guidelines. The CPE can read data from most sources currently available within a clinical practice, including EHRs, practice management systems, lab information systems, clinical data repositories, patient registries and other sources.