Partnering With Your Health System to Select and Implement Clinical Decision Support for Imaging

Recent legislation mandates the documentation of appropriateness criteria consultation when ordering advanced imaging for Medicare patients to remain eligible for reimbursement. Implementation of imaging clinical decision support (CDS) is a solution adopted by many systems to automate compliance with the new requirements. This article is intended to help radiologists who are employed by, contracted with, or otherwise affiliated with systems planning to implement CDS in the near future and ensure that they are able to understand and contribute to the process wherever possible. It includes an in-depth discussion of the legislation, evidence for and against the efficacy of imaging CDS, considerations for selecting a CDS vendor, tips for configuring CDS in a fashion consistent with departmental goals, and pointers for implementation and change management.