Clinical Decision Support and Palivizumab: A Means to Protect from Respiratory Syncytial Virus

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Palivizumab can reduce hospitalizations due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), but many eligible infants fail to receive the full 5-dose series. The efficacy of clinical decision support (CDS) in fostering palivizumab receipt has not been studied. We sought a comprehensive solution for identifying eligible patients and addressing barriers to palivizumab administration.

METHODS

We developed workflow and CDS tools targeting patient identification and palivizumab administration. We randomized 10 practices to receive palivizumab-focused CDS and 10 to receive comprehensive CDS for premature infants in a 3-year longitudinal cluster-randomized trial with 2 baseline and 1 intervention RSV seasons.

RESULTS

There were 356 children eligible to receive palivizumab, with 194 in the palivizumab-focused group and 162 in the comprehensive CDS group. The proportion of doses administered to children in the palivizumab-focused intervention group increased from 68.4% and 65.5% in the two baseline seasons to 84.7% in the intervention season. In the comprehensive intervention group, proportions of doses administered declined during the baseline seasons (from 71.9% to 62.4%) with partial recovery to 67.9% during the intervention season. The palivizumab-focused group improved by 19.2 percentage points in the intervention season compared to the prior baseline season (p < 0.001), while the comprehensive intervention group only improved 5.5 percentage points (p = 0.288). The difference in change between study groups was significant (p = 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Workflow and CDS tools integrated in an EHR may increase the administration of palivizumab. The support focused on palivizumab, rather than comprehensive intervention, was more effective at improving palivizumab administration.

Why go see the doctor? Care goes from office to home as technology divorces function from geography

Two functions of home care, assistance to improve disabled and aged patients' mobility and function, and self-care that includes treatment, screening-monitoring, exercise assistance, and information exchange, are described, as are the technologies used for these functions. Social and economic pressures as well as professional rationales that expand the use of technologies at home are noted, as is their impact on the site of care and on the patient-doctor relationship.

Technology and the work of the doctor outside the hospital

This article examines the ends to which technology are employed in the office practice of medicine. It argues that the types of decisions technology supports are of greater impact on how medicine is practiced over the long view than the actual technologies themselves. The more relevant the technologies are to the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment, the more they drive the practice of medicine toward a standard endeavor. Similarly, technologies that make existing tests and procedures more efficient often reduce the skill level that is needed to provide care. The results of these forces coupled with the increasing administrative, economic, and regulating pressures lead to a diminished role for physicians unless a conscious effort is made to introduce technologies that enhance their unique and discretionary work with patients.