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J Am Med Inform Assoc 16:531-538 doi:10.1197/jamia.M2910
  • The Practice of Informatics

What Evidence Supports the Use of Computerized Alerts and Prompts to Improve Clinicians' Prescribing Behavior?

Table 1

Category of Alerts and Types of Alerts Showing a Beneficial Effect on Prescribing and/or Clinical Outcome

Category of Drug Alerts Number of Alert Types Number of Studies with Beneficial Effect on Prescribing Number of Studies with No Effect on Prescribing Number of Studies with Positive Effect on Clinical Outcomes
Basic drug alerts
 1. Drug allergy warnings 1 124
 2. Drug–drug interactions 1 124
 3. Duplication alerts 0
 4. Basic medication order guidance 2 224 28
Advanced drug alerts
 1. Drug-laboratory alerts 4 426 27 31 36 131
 2. Drug-condition alerts
  2a Drug–disease contraindication 0
  2b appropriate prescribing 4 217 28 218 19
  2c drug-age alerts 4 330 34 35 133 130
 3. Drug-formulary alerts 4 421 23 28 32 221 32
 4. Dosing guidelines based on:
  4a Renal Function 2 229 31 129
  4b age 0
  4c pregnancy/childbearing potential 0
  4d Pediatric patients/weight based dosing 1 120
  4e indications 0
Combination of basic and advanced features 4 422 24 25 28
Total 27 23 4 5
  • Alert types showing beneficial effect on prescribing (second column), no effect on prescribing (third column) and positive effect on clinical outcomes (fourth column) compared to total number of alerts in a certain alert category (first column).

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