title: Managing demand using clinical decision support tools.
abstract: Managing patient and physician demand for resources is crucial to the cost-effective delivery of high-quality patient care. This task is complicated by the expectations for better medical care that patients and physicians developed before prospective payment systems were instituted. The use of clinical decision support tools, which may combine appropriateness criteria with practice guidelines, can help manage demand rationally, control costs, and minimize concerns about overutilization and underutilization of healthcare services.
authors.affiliation: InterQual, Inc., Marlborough, MA, USA.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Jacobs
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D014481:United States; D014600:Utilization Review