Potential of Decision Support in Preventing Pressure Ulcers in Hospitals

The development of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers signals low quality of care. Despite the established guidelines and best practices on pressure ulcer prevention, the incidence of pressure ulcers in hospital remains high. To meet the challenges of consistently translating best practices into effective clinical practices and promote effective teamwork communication and interprofessional collaboration, we consider the failure of consistent care delivery as loss of information and reveal the opportunities of informatics methods to reinforce information delivery, evidenced by typical cases. We, then, explain and summarize information-related issues existing at the initial assessment upon hospital admission, routine treatments, and team communication. Clinical decision support methods are promising in addressing these issues by optimizing care plans, improving adherence to best practices, reinforcing effective team communication, and customizing event report feedback.