title: Optimal data systems: the future of clinical predictions and decision support.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the review is to describe the evolving concept and role of data as it relates to clinical predictions and decision-making.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Critical care medicine is, as an especially data-rich specialty, becoming acutely cognizant not only of its historic deficits in data utilization but also of its enormous potential for capturing, mining, and leveraging such data into well-designed decision support modalities as well as the formulation of robust best practices.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Modern electronic medical records create an opportunity to design complete and functional data systems that can support clinical care to a degree never seen before. Such systems are often referred to as 'data-driven,' but a better term is 'optimal data systems' (ODS). Here we discuss basic features of an ODS and its benefits, including the potential to transform clinical prediction and decision support.
authors.affiliation: aMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts bHuntington Medical Research Institutes, Pasadena, California cUniversity of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA *Dr Leo A. Celi, Dr Marie Csete, and Dr David Stone contributed equally to this manuscript.
authors.forename: Leo A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Celi
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Csete
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stone
mesh_terms: D003422:Critical Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends; D003657:Decision Making; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D019451:Information Management / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends