TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluating the effectiveness of clinical alerts
T2 - AMIA Annual Symposium
AU - Ong, Mei Sing
AU - Coiera, Enrico
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Clinical alerts are widely used in healthcare to notify caregivers of critical information. Alerts can be presented through many different modalities, including verbal, paper and electronic. Increasingly, information technology is being used to automate alerts. Most applications, however, fall short in achieving the desired outcome. The objective of this study is twofold. First, we examine the effectiveness of verbal and written alerts in promoting adherence to infection control precautions during inpatient transfers to radiology. Second, we propose a quantitative framework based on Signal Detection Theory (SDT) for evaluating the effectiveness of clinical alerts. Our analysis shows that verbal alerts are much more effective than written alerts. Further, using precaution alerts as a case study, we demonstrate the application of SDT to evaluate the quality of alerts, and human behavior in handling alerts. We hypothesize that such technique can improve our understanding of computerized alert systems, and guide system redesign.
AB - Clinical alerts are widely used in healthcare to notify caregivers of critical information. Alerts can be presented through many different modalities, including verbal, paper and electronic. Increasingly, information technology is being used to automate alerts. Most applications, however, fall short in achieving the desired outcome. The objective of this study is twofold. First, we examine the effectiveness of verbal and written alerts in promoting adherence to infection control precautions during inpatient transfers to radiology. Second, we propose a quantitative framework based on Signal Detection Theory (SDT) for evaluating the effectiveness of clinical alerts. Our analysis shows that verbal alerts are much more effective than written alerts. Further, using precaution alerts as a case study, we demonstrate the application of SDT to evaluate the quality of alerts, and human behavior in handling alerts. We hypothesize that such technique can improve our understanding of computerized alert systems, and guide system redesign.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84874216833&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP0775532
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/56812
M3 - Conference paper
C2 - 22195164
AN - SCOPUS:84874216833
VL - 2011
SP - 1036
EP - 1044
JO - AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings
JF - AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings
SN - 1942-597X
Y2 - 22 October 2011 through 25 October 2011
ER -