title: Monitoring pharmacy expert system performance using statistical process control methodology.
abstract: Automated expert systems provide a reliable and effective way to improve patient safety in a hospital environment. Their ability to analyze large amounts of data without fatigue is a decided advantage over clinicians who perform the same tasks. As dependence on expert systems increase and the systems become more complex, it is important to closely monitor their performance. Failure to generate alerts can jeopardize the health and safety of patients, while generating excessive false positive alerts can lead to valid alerts being dismissed as noise. In this study, statistical process control charts were used to monitor an expert system, and the strengths and weaknesses of this technology are presented.
authors.affiliation: Medical Informatics Laboratory, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Doherty
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Reichley
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Noirot
authors.forename: Ervina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Resetar
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hodge
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Sutter
authors.forename: Wm Claiborne
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Dunagan
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Bailey
mesh_terms: D016303:Clinical Pharmacy Information Systems / Q000592:standards*; D004360:Drug Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000592:standards*; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005103:Expert Systems; D006801:Humans; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control; D011786:Quality Control; D013223:Statistics as Topic