Open-Source Clinical Decision Support To Help Meaningful Use?

Stage 1 Meaningful Use requires the implementation of one clinical decision support (CDS) rule in patient diagnosis and care. CDS is an interactive decision support system that links observations of a patient’s individual electronic health record (EHR) with a repository of health knowledge or an artificial intelligence algorithm to provide physicians with case-specific diagnoses or suggestions for further action.

CDS systems provide alerts and reminders about drug interactions, laboratory tests, and patient follow-up instructions. They may also include displays that highlight important information, reference materials, and other data that are helpful in providing the best possible care in real time.

The newly-launched Socratic Grid project by Cognitive Medical Systems also allows patients to access their health information in order to involve them in their treatment plans.  OpenCDS is a another CDS system provider,  a collaborative effort involving the University of Utah, Veteran’s Health Administration, and UNC-Chapel Hill...