Data expertise helps researchers understand clinical tools usage
Clinical decision-support tools have the potential to help clinicians make evidence-based decisions, access relevant patient information and navigate complex care. However, making a tool available in an electronic health record (EHR) does not guarantee that clinicians will use it in routine practice.
Researchers are gaining a deeper understanding of how clinical tools, like OneSheet, are utilized in real-world patient care settings within electronic health records (EHRs). While EHRs provide access to patient information and support evidence-based decision-making, simply having a tool available does not guarantee its regular use by clinicians during patient encounters.
A study published in PLOS Digital Health investigated when and by whom clinicians employed OneSheet, an EHR-based tool aimed at aiding chronic pain management in primary care. Researchers obtained access to EHR data and data management expertise through RDS (Research Data Services) to examine patterns of OneSheet usage across 145,511 patient encounters involving 69 primary care clinicians.
To understand the circumstances surrounding OneSheet usage, researchers had to link clinical information with usage data, examining patient characteristics and encounter details alongside OneSheet interaction records. This required close collaboration between the research team and RDS analysts, such as Evgenia Teal, who worked to ensure proper linking of clinical data with OneSheet usage data.
The research found that clinicians accessed OneSheet in only 0.7% of the patient encounters studied. Use was more likely when chronic pain was directly addressed or when long-term opioid therapy was prescribed. However, prior use of OneSheet did not increase the likelihood of future use. The findings suggest that merely making clinical decision-support tools available in EHRs is not enough to promote routine use.
Understanding when and how tools fit into existing workflows is crucial for health care organizations to improve implementation.
Differences in OneSheet usage were observed based on clinician characteristics, though some findings may have been influenced by a limited number of highly experienced participants. By connecting clinical information with technology usage data, the study provides valuable insights into the specific circumstances under which clinicians engage with digital tools during patient care.
As health care organizations adopt new digital technologies, understanding their real-world functionality is essential for identifying adoption barriers, assessing workflow integration, and comprehending the tools' role in patient care.
The OneSheet research highlights the importance of having well-managed health data and specialized data expertise, as provided by RDS, to support these efforts. The data and collaborative work have contributed to multiple research papers examining OneSheet's use in clinical care.
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