Electronic interface for emergency department management of asthma: a randomized control trial of clinician performance.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated and dynamic electronic decision support system for management of acute asthma in the ED.


METHODS
A randomized trial was conducted comparing clinician performance using this electronic interface compared with paper documentation in a simulation scenario. The outcomes were documentation of asthma-related information and consultation times.


RESULTS
Use of this electronic interface was associated with significantly higher rates of documentation in 7 out of 10 variables, including provision of written short-term asthma management plans. After adjustment for participant seniority, there was no significant difference in consultation times.


CONCLUSIONS
In a simulation trial, use of this electronic interface was associated with improvements in clinical and discharge documentation. Further studies are required to test this prototype in clinical practice.
Taylor
Ben
B
Emergency Department, St Thomas Hospital, London, UK.
Dinh
Michael
M
Kwok
Raymond
R
Dinh
David
D
Chu
Matthew
M
Tang
Eric
E
D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000628:therapy*; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical; D004282:Documentation / Q000379:methods; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome