Implementation by nurses of an electronic clinical alert system earned Vanderbilt University Medical Center a 2009 Bio-IT World best practices award in May. Vanderbilt was one of eight winning entries from a pool of 72 submissions.

 

Using clinical decision support technology, called the CareEngine System and developed by New York-based ActiveHealth Management, Vanderbilt's new approach resulted in a 14.3 percent increase in compliance with medical best practices.

 

Traditionally, ActiveHealth sent clinical alerts directly to doctors via phone, fax or mail, depending on the severity of the issue. With the new approach, the alerts are sent to Vanderbilt electronically, and a team of nurses compares the alerts to patient information in the medical center's electronic medical record, checking for information not available to CareEngine, such as lab tests or drug allergies.

 

"Having our nurses review the (clinical alerts) before sending them on to the physicians personalizes health management for the patient," Jim Jurjis, MD, medical director of Vanderbilt Primary Care group, said. "ActiveHealth needs information from us to make the program work to its fullest, and we need their analytics to help us keep up-to-date with new evidence-based medical guidelines."

 

According to a Vanderbilt statement, the increased compliance is the result of two factors: