Investigating the Role of Clinical Decision Support Systems in Reducing Medical Errors

Abstract

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the role of clinical decision support systems in reducing medical errors from the perspective of physicians and nurses in the teaching and therapeutic hospitals . Method: This descriptive cross -sectional study was conducted in 2021 -2022 in two teaching and therapeutic hospitals in Ferdows City, Iran. Physicians and nurses have participated in the research. In this study, the census method was used, and the research community was considered the research sample. The questionnaire of Ariyai et al. was used as a data collection tool. After collecting the questionnaires, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics methods . Results: 42 medical staff were included in the study. From a physician’s point of view, decision support systems can be helpful by reducing the risk of severe allergic reactions and drug interactions (60%), quick access to patient records (50%), and computerized order registries (30%). From nurses' point of view , eliminating problems related to doctors' handwriting (25%), avoiding disremember of repeating test s or imaging (18.8%), quick access to updated information during work (12.5%), and reducing the risk of embolism (9.4%) are the advantages of clinical decision support systems. Conclusion: due to the importance of developing a decision support system in hospitals and measuring the readiness of medical staff to adopt it, it is suggested that the necessary training s be provided .