Authors:
Anne Holbrook, Lehana Thabane, Karim Keshavjee, Lisa Dolovich, Bob Bernstein, David Chan, Sue Troyan, Gary Foster, Hertzel Gerstein
Research Summary:
Purpose of Study
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of electronic decision support tools on care for diabetes mellitus in the community.
Research Approach/Method
The authors sequentially recruited 46 providers and 511 patients, and compared care-related and clinical outcomes for control and intervention groups.
Key Overarching Message
Results suggest that community-based care of type 2 diabetes can be improved with electronic tracking and decision support, but that resultant changes in clinical outcomes are modest. More evidence for cost-effectiveness of such interventions is needed for policy decision making.
Key Findings
The process composite score, a measure of monitoring of relevant risk factors, improved significantly more in the intervention group than the control group. The study also found statistically significantly higher ìclinical improvementî scores in the intervention group than the control group, however, there was no difference in the improvement in the number of clinical measures meeting targets. Authors found that those using the tool felt more productive, more at ease about the management of their diabetes, and were more satisfied with care and their relationship with their provider than those in the control group.
Anne Holbrook
