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The Five Rights of
Effective Clinical Informatics
Implementation
Right Decisions
Clinical
medicine is inherently challenging, due to the complexity of the human
body and how it responds to disease. Our understanding of illnesses and
what is optimal diagnosis and therapy is continually changing, and doing
so faster than ever. Even so, in spite of all of the sophisticated testing
now used, clinical decisions
are fundamentally only considered judgments, weighing an array
of facts and hunches.
Incomplete data
Should
some of the basic information be missing, and the caregiver forced to
guess and what a result might indicate, the decision making process is
flawed, even if it often turns out ok. An effective system of care
uniformly brings together everything needed for an optimal decision.
Incomplete knowledge
It
is not only the facts of the illness that count, but also their
significance in light of the latest, best medical knowledge.
Unfortunately the cost of rapid progress has been that decision makers
are increasingly unable to keep up with the pace of new understandings,
and to be able to bring them to bear for the benefit of patient care. It is
not an individual failing, but rather a systemic issue. Systematic approaches are required to be sure that the best and most
complete knowledge is incorporated into the decision-making process.
Computer-based tools can organize information to reflect advances in
understanding and present the best protocols to optimize care.
Decisions only have their maximum benefit when carried out using the
Right Work Processes. |