Emergency department physicians believe that over utilization of CT exams is a problem in their departments and would welcome the introduction of clinical decision support as a tool to help prevent over utilization, according to research from the Washington University School of Medicine presented at last week's American College of Emergency Physicians Research Forum in Seattle.
Researchers surveyed 235 emergency physicians in the St. Louis area about whether they thought utilization was an issue, whether they wanted decision support and what kind of decision support they wanted, AuntMinnie.com reported.
On questions related to whether there are opportunities for improvement regarding over utilization in emergency departments, respondents had a mean score of 1.79 on a scale of 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree), leading the researchers to conclude "CT utilization is perceived as a problem."
As for questions about their interest in imaging decision support, respondents had a mean score of about 2, which suggests, according to the researchers, that "EPs are interested in all types of imaging decision support proposed to help optimize imaging ordering in the ED and to reduce radiation to their patients." Article