Computerized Decision Support Improves Medication Review Effectiveness: An Experiment Evaluating the STRIP Assistant's Usability
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 11, 2026

A Computerized Functional Skills Assessment and Training Program Targeting Technology Based Everyday Functional Skills
Published on: February 13, 2020
Michiel C Meulendijk1, Marco R Spruit, A Clara Drenth-van Maanen
1Department of Information and Computing Sciences, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC, Utrecht, The Netherlands, m.c.meulendijk@uu.nl.
Background:
Polypharmacy poses threats to patients' health. The Systematic Tool to Reduce Inappropriate Prescribing (STRIP) is a drug optimization process for conducting medication reviews in primary care. To effectively and efficiently incorporate this method into daily practice, the STRIP Assistant--a decision support system that aims to assist physicians with the pharmacotherapeutic analysis of patients' medical records--has been developed. It generates context-specific advice based on clinical guidelines.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to validate the STRIP Assistant's usability as a tool for physicians to optimize medical records for polypharmacy patients.
Methods:
In an online experiment, 42 physicians were asked to optimize medical records for two comparable polypharmacy patients, one in their usual manner and one using the STRIP Assistant. Changes in effectiveness were measured by comparing respondents' optimized medicine prescriptions with medication prepared by an expert panel of two geriatrician-pharmacologists. Efficiency was operationalized by recording the time the respondents took to optimize the two cases. User satisfaction was measured with the System Usability Scale (SUS). Independent and paired t tests were used for analysis.
Results:
Medication optimization significantly improved with the STRIP Assistant. Appropriate decisions increased from 58% without the STRIP Assistant to 76% with it (p < 0.0001). Inappropriate decisions decreased from 42% without the STRIP Assistant to 24% with it (p < 0.0001). Participants spent significantly more time optimizing medication with the STRIP Assistant (24 min) than without it (13 min; p < 0.0001). They assigned it a below-average SUS score of 63.25.
Conclusion:
The STRIP Assistant improves the effectiveness of medication reviews for polypharmacy patients.
Related Concept Videos
Automated Microbial Diagnostics
Methods of Documentation III: PIE
Health Information Technology and Healthcare Information System
Health Information Technology, commonly called HIT, integrates advanced information systems and technology in healthcare settings. Its primary functions include:
Drug Therapy
Antianxiety Medications
Structure-Activity Relationships and Drug Design
SAR studies the intricate relationship between a drug's chemical structure and biological activity. It focuses on understanding how modifications to a drug's structure can influence...
Nursing Clinical Information System
A Nursing Clinical Information System (NCIS) is a specialized type of healthcare information system tailored to meet the unique needs of nursing practice. It incorporates the principles of nursing informatics to streamline information management and improve the quality of care delivery.
Critical attributes of NCIS include:

