The Five Rights of Effective Clinical Informatics Implementation

Right Clinical Data

Once you are clear what outcomes you are trying to achieve, identify those data elements which most impact those outcomes and optimize their collection and use.  

Healthcare has increasingly become more data-driven. Simply put, current diagnostic methods are vastly better  than previous approaches. Some of these methods are technical and sophisticated, such as MRIs or the many exotic blood tests, while others may be traditional, such as measurements of blood pressure and pulse rate. In either case, the results of those evaluations must be available to caregivers for them to make appropriate decisions. While the testing methods have changed enormously, our methods for delivering and displaying the data have not kept pace.   Clinicians make decisions -- whether or not the data available is complete. When an iv infusion requires the next bag of fluid, a bag will be hung--whether or not the morning electrolytes results are available!

Some types of data are more important than others...

The volume of documentation collected on a hospitalized patient has grown enormously in recent years. Some of the additional data is due to new diagnostic methods. Much of the additional data is gathered for regulatory purposes or to document that care met a community standard in the event of an adverse outcome. The sheer volume of the information to be processed has further stressed the ability of caregivers to find the information they need to make key clinical decisions. Furthermore, some types of observations are more reliable and predictive of an important clinical problem than others, e.g. a Temperature compared to the physical examination of the lungs. For that reason, some data elements are particularly sought after by many different members of the caregiving team. Knowing where to focus is critical.

Once the data elements are identified, figure out the Right Presentation.