The Development and Evaluation of a Clinical Decision Support System for Pathology Utilization Management in Australian Hospitals

This paper introduces a conceptual framework for the development of a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) for pathology testing support in hospitals in Australia. Pathology testing in hospitals has not been well managed in the past. There are many cases of unnecessary testing because the full cost of the test is not relayed back to the physicians requesting the tests. This results in testing for conditions that may well be of marginal benefit or of no connection to the patient’s problems. This paper focuses on the development of a smartphone app that will provide a platform where pathology test ordering using medical guidance protocols can be designed by senior clinicians to guide doctors at the point of ordering tests. The CDSS framework is outlined for providing a pathology test monitoring and management platform where a spectrum of demand management strategies can be designed, implemented and monitored. The authors feel this is the right time for developing applications such as these because people are using smartphones as a daily routine and this will get over the problems of desktop decision support systems failures to be adopted.