OMPUTERIZED CLINICAL DECIs i o n s u p p o r t s y s t e m s (CDSSs) are information systems designed to improve clinical decision making. Characteristics of individual patients are matched to a computerized knowledge base, and software algorithms generate patientspecific recommendations. Practitioners, health care staff, or patients can manually enter patient characteristics into the computer system; alternatively, electronic medical records can be queried for retrieval of patient characteristics. Computer-generated recommendations are delivered to the clinician through the electronic medical record, by pager, or through printouts placed in a patient's paper chart. Such systems have been developed for a myriad of clinical issues, including diagnosis of chest pain, treatment of infertility, and timely administration of immunizations. These systems provide several modes of decision support, including alerts of critical val-See also pp 1197 and 1261.

VTE is increasingly prevalent among hospitalized IBD patients and has substantial mortality and economic impact. These findings drive the need for widespread prophylaxis against and early detection of VTE among IBD inpatients.

PCM is more common among patients with cirrhosis and PHTN than the general medical population, and is associated with higher in-hospital mortality and resource utilization. PCM may be an indicator of greater disease severity and should be routinely assessed on admission.