Clinical Decision Support is important across all of healthcare as it can improve diagnostic accuracy and create better patient health outcomes. Yet, as is the case with most things, certain specialties will see a greater impact from the use of CDS than others. Let’s look at those specialties and why CDS is especially important for them.
Dermatology
Dermatology is, by nature, a very visual specialty. Dermatologists are expected to diagnose skin conditions based largely on how they present in appearance. While that may sound simple, the reality is that some conditions may have several different presentations of appearance. This makes diagnosing a dermatological condition particularly difficult. With a database of diagnostic images, a good CDS system can provide a dermatologist with examples of the many ways each condition can present, allowing providers to find an image that matches their patient’s symptoms so that they can be sure of their diagnosis. Additionally, a good CDS system will also provide patient education, allowing the dermatologist to present to the patient exactly how they are making their diagnosis, as well as additional information about treatment and self-care for the patient to utilize.
Family Medicine
Family medicine doctors see a wide variety of symptoms and conditions. Unlike specialists, family medicine doctors often find themselves responsible for diagnosing conditions in every body system, meaning that they need to be at least a little familiar with just about everything. Clinical decision support provides family medicine practitioners with a wealth of information, simulating the experience of having a specialist working alongside them as they tackle a wide variety of symptoms on a daily basis. This provides an extra layer of confidence and security, and increases patient safety, as providers are able to reach an accurate diagnosis more efficiently.
Pediatrics
Pediatrics, like family medicine, is a very general practice. Additionally, like dermatology, many childhood illnesses also feature a rash of some sort with their presentation. In this way, clinical decision support provides both the wealth of knowledge and the variations of presentation to help pediatricians accurately diagnose patient conditions without the need to spend much time on research. Additionally, clinical decision support has been proven to improve vaccination rates through the use of reminders as well as patient education. It also helps to increase timely referrals for intervention services for patients showing signs of developmental delays by helping physicians spot these issues earlier than they might have on their own. Each of these characteristics allows CDS to be particularly beneficial in pediatric practices.
Urgent Care
Finally, urgent care, like family medicine and pediatrics, sees a variety of conditions. Unique to urgent care, though, is the time-sensitive nature of it. Providers in urgent care need to make the right diagnosis fast. With the use of CDS, doctors can diagnose conditions quickly, even if they’ve never seen them before, and efficiently find and implement the best possible treatment. Essentially, the use of CDS in urgent care especially has the potential to be life-saving.
While clinical decision support is beneficial across the board, certain specialties will see an especially impressive benefit. Among them are dermatology, family medicine, pediatrics, and urgent care. Are you in one of these specialties and ready to see how CDS can work for you? Are you in a different specialty and want to learn more about what CDS can do for your particular area of practice? Look no further than VisualDX, an award-winning diagnostic clinical decision support tool that’s designed to enhance diagnostic accuracy, aid therapeutic decisions, and improve patient safety. VisualDX features a database full of high-quality medical images and clinical information specific to each patient’s condition.
For more information about VisualDX or to get set up, visit henryscheinsolutionshub.com or call 833-433-2482.
