Can emergency department provider notes help to achieve more dynamic clinical decision support?

Objective: Assess whether clinical data were present in emergency department (ED) provider notes at time of order entry for cervical spine (c-spine) imaging that could be used to augment or pre-populate clinical decision support (CDS) attributes.

Methods: This Institutional Review Board-approved retrospective study, performed in a quaternary hospital, included all encounters for adult ED patients seen April 1, 2013-September 30, 2014 for a chief complaint of trauma who received c-spine computed tomography (CT) or x-ray. We assessed proportion of ED encounters with at least 1 c-spine-specific CDS rule attribute in clinical notes available at the time of imaging order and agreement between attributes in clinical notes and data entered into CDS.

Results: A portion of the clinical note was submitted before imaging order in 42% (184/438) of encounters reviewed; 59.2% (109/184) of encounters with note portions submitted before imaging order had at least 1 positive CDS attribute identified supporting imaging study appropriateness; 34.8% (64/184) identified exclusion criteria where CDS appropriateness recommendations would not be applicable. 65.8% (121/184) of encounters had either a positive CDS attribute or an exclusion criterion. Concordance of c-spine CDS attributes when present in both notes and CDS was 68.4% (κ = 0.35 95% CI: 0.15-0.56; McNemar = 0.23).

Conclusions: Clinical notes are an underutilized source of clinical attributes needed for CDS, available in a substantial percentage of encounters at the time of imaging order. Automated pre-population of imaging order requisitions with relevant clinical information extracted from electronic health record provider notes may: (1) improve ordering efficiency by reducing redundant data entry, (2) help improve clinical relevance of CDS alerts, and (3) potentially reduce provider burnout from extraneous alerts.