NCH Healthcare System achieved a significant reduction in alert fatigue by optimizing medication alerts during their EHR transition. Collaborating with pharmacy teams, they tailored alerts using specific patient data, leading to more targeted guidance for clinicians. Through proactive measures and leveraging existing systems, NCH improved physician wellness and enhanced patient safety. This approach underscores the importance of addressing alert fatigue in healthcare systems and highlights the benefits of ongoing collaboration and optimization.
Our optimized alerts per week saw a notable reduction of 16.6% to 37.5% while offering clinicians more targeted guidance, states the CMIO of NCH Healthcare System, providing insights into their upcoming HIMSS24 presentation on clinical decision support.
Physician well-being is a priority for healthcare systems. Yet, the inundation of generic clinical alerts in electronic health records (EHRs), particularly medication-related warnings and internally developed alerts, only adds to the stress levels among healthcare providers.
While transitioning to a new EHR system, NCH Healthcare System, based in Florida, undertook measures to optimize medication alerts. These alerts, often disregarded by physicians due to lacking relevance to individual patient cases, were revamped to utilize specific patient data such as lab results and existing health conditions. This tailored approach led to more focused alerts, catering to patients at higher risk, as opposed to blanket alerts affecting a wide range of patients.
This case underscores the importance of proactively addressing alert fatigue among physicians and emphasizes the significance of collaboration with pharmacy teams in evaluating medication alerts. NCH Healthcare System found that achieving its objectives required less time and fewer resources by leveraging an existing system rather than developing one from scratch, ultimately benefiting both physician well-being and patient safety.
David Linz, the Chief Medical Informatics Officer at NCH Healthcare System, will delve into this achievement at HIMSS24 in a session titled “Introducing More Meaningful Medication Guidance While Tackling Alert Overload.” We interviewed him to provide a glimpse into his presentation.
Q: What is the primary focus of your session, and why is it relevant for health IT leaders in today’s healthcare landscape?
A: Our session centers on optimizing clinical decision support to alleviate alert fatigue, a pressing concern for healthcare professionals and organizations. By reducing the negative impacts on clinicians, such as burnout, and improving overall efficiency, we not only enhance patient outcomes but also alleviate financial burdens on healthcare institutions.
The proliferation of generic clinical alerts, particularly medication-related ones, contributes significantly to physician stress. Alert fatigue isn’t just a result of high volumes; the lack of relevance and actionable insights for individual patients exacerbates the issue. While alerts are essential for patient safety, their effectiveness diminishes when they lack patient-specific context.
Excessive alerts can compromise patient care by increasing the likelihood of avoidable adverse events. Alerts that lack clarity and actionable information are often overridden by providers, leading to potential risks. In our session, we emphasize the importance of tailoring alerts to individual patient profiles, consistently incorporating factors like lab results and comorbidities.
Q: What key takeaway do you want attendees to gain from your session, and why is it crucial in today’s healthcare landscape?
A: Our session aims to showcase how a proactive, multidisciplinary approach, guided by pharmacy teams, can yield more meaningful medication alerts while addressing alert overload and fatigue. By leveraging specific patient data, such as lab results and existing conditions, we can tailor alerts to be more patient-specific, relevant, and actionable for clinicians.
Maintaining such alerts requires ongoing effort and collaboration, but the benefits are significant. We’ve observed a notable reduction in alert burden for physicians, coupled with enhancements in patient safety. Additionally, by offloading alert management to consistently incorporate factors like lab results and comorbidities trusted vendor partners, we save time and ensure the relevance and accuracy of alert content.
Our implementation process, which involved integrating targeted medication alerts with our EHR system, was streamlined and efficient, demonstrating the feasibility of this approach for other healthcare organizations.
Q: Could you share another significant learning you hope attendees will take away from your session?
A: Continuous review and adjustment are essential in combating alert fatigue. At NCH Healthcare System, we formed a decision support committee comprising various healthcare professionals and experts to comprehensively assess medication alert data and recommend improvements.
Through regular meetings and data analysis, we identify trends, assess feedback from clinicians, and make necessary adjustments to optimize alert systems further. By categorizing alerts and objectively quantifying their impact, we can pinpoint areas for improvement and refine our approach continuously.
For instance, by adjusting duplicate allowance levels, we successfully reduced the number of non-clinically relevant alerts, enhancing provider satisfaction and attention to subsequent alerts. This iterative process of combining subjective feedback with objective data analysis is crucial for continuously improving the clinical decision-support environment and ultimately enhancing patient care.
NCH Healthcare System’s experience demonstrates the effectiveness of proactive measures in combating alert fatigue and enhancing medication alerts. By leveraging specific patient data and collaborating with pharmacy teams, they achieved a notable reduction in alert burden while improving physician wellness and patient safety. This approach emphasizes the importance of ongoing optimization and collaboration in addressing alert fatigue within healthcare systems. Moving forward, adopting similar strategies can help alleviate physician stress and enhance patient care across the healthcare landscape.
