A web-based intensive care clinical decision support system: From design to evaluation

The aim of this study is to develop and evaluate a web-based clinical decision support system (CDSS) containing clinical guidelines and protocols that will support intensive care unit (ICU) providers in making decisions more effectively and quickly. First, a survey was carried out with 38 physicians in order to determine their preferences, needs and concerns regarding decision support tools. After the survey, guidelines were prepared by a group of specialists in ICU, and a medical informatician converted the guidelines into algorithm forms. Ten CDSS were developed using the algorithms, and placed onto the Intensive Care Decision Support Website (ICDSW). In order to evaluation of the website, 15 physicians were asked to answer 10 questions in 10 different scenarios first using a paper-based approach, then with ICDSW. When the answers were analyzed, it was found that the answers given by using ICDSW were significantly better than the paper-based approach (p < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in terms of the time needed to answer the questions (p = 0.138). The usability score of the website was 85.6 ± 8.89. The study demonstrated the successful implementation of an ICDSW within intensive care units.