title: Dashboards for improving patient care: review of the literature.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of evidence for the use of clinical and quality dashboards in health care environments.
  
  
  METHODS
  A literature search was performed for the dates 1996-2012 on CINAHL, Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, PsychInfo, Science Direct and ACM Digital Library. A citation search and a hand search of relevant papers were also conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and twenty two full text papers were retrieved of which 11 were included in the review. There was considerable heterogeneity in implementation setting, dashboard users and indicators used. There was evidence that in contexts where dashboards were easily accessible to clinicians (such as in the form of a screen saver) their use was associated with improved care processes and patient outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is some evidence that implementing clinical and/or quality dashboards that provide immediate access to information for clinicians can improve adherence to quality guidelines and may help improve patient outcomes. However, further high quality detailed research studies need to be conducted to obtain evidence of their efficacy and establish guidelines for their design.
authors.affiliation: Columbia University School of Nursing, New York, USA; Center for Health Care Policy and Research, Visiting Nursing Service of New York, New York, USA. Electronic address: dd2724@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Dawn
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dowding
authors.affiliation: School of Healthcare, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Randell
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.affiliation: Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fitzpatrick
authors.affiliation: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dykes
authors.affiliation: CICESE, Ensenada, Mexico.
authors.forename: Jesus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Favela
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network Coordinating Centre, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamer
authors.affiliation: Health and Social Care Information Centre, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Zac
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Whitewood-Moores
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Midwifery, Social Work & Social Sciences, University of Salford, Salford, UK.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hardiker
authors.affiliation: School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Borycki
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Leanne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Currie
mesh_terms: D019985:Benchmarking / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008331:Management Information Systems; D005791:Patient Care / Q000592:standards*; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Clinical dashboard; Decision making, computer assisted; Decision support systems, clinical; Performance measurement; Quality indicators, health care