BMI 5360 Clinical Decision Support Systems

3 semester credit hours
Lecture contact hours: 2; Lab contact hours: 3
Web-based and classroom instruction

This course is designed to provide an overview of decision support systems in health care, with a particular emphasis on design, evaluation and application of clinical decision support systems (CDSS) across all health care settings – in-patient, ambulatory care, long-term care, pharmacy, etc. The course explores the background and features of CDSS. Students will understand the mathematical foundations of knowledge-based systems, learn to identify areas which might benefit from a decision support system, evaluate the challenges surrounding development and implementation and consider issues of CDSS appropriateness and usability. The course also includes a detailed discussion of issues in clinical vocabularies and other important issues in the development and use of CDSS, and provides guidance on the use of decision support tools for patients. Students will have hands-on experience with EHR CDSS modification.

Upon successfully completing this course, students will:

• Explain knowledge-based reasoning approaches to the benefit of patient care.
• Analyze a clinical need for decision support though use of scientific evidence.
• Identify challenges surrounding development, implementation, and evaluation of clinical decision support systems.
• Create a decision support model that solves the clinical problem identified.
• Justify the proposed design solution to a clinical domain for improving quality and safety.