Clinical Decision Support Systems and Medical Imaging

Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) can help clinicians make correct and timely decisions about patient care, reduce errors, comply with standard treatment and medication guidelines, reduce costs, and ultimately improve the quality of healthcare. An overview of various models is provided. This tool can apply to six areas of healthcare, all of which have a significant impact on improving care and provider performance: diagnosis, disease progress management, care and treatment, drug prescribing, evaluation, and prevention. Beginning in January 2017, referring physicians must use appropriateness criteria when ordering advanced imaging for Medicare patients. CDSS will be a critical part of this process. In the medical imaging chain, from ordered study to communicating results, such systems can help achieve best practices.