The potential benefits of the electronic health record over traditional paper are many, including cost containment, reductions in errors, and improved compliance by utilizing real-time data. The highest functional level of the electronic health record (EHR) is clinical decision support (CDS) and process automation, which are expected to enhance patient health and healthcare. The authors provide an overview of the progress in using patient data more efficiently and effectively through clinical decision support to improve health care delivery, how decision support impacts anesthesia practice, and how some are leading the way using these systems to solve need-specific issues. Clinical decision support uses passive or active decision support to modify clinician behavior through recommendations of specific actions. Recommendations may reduce medication errors, which would result in considerable savings by avoiding adverse drug events. In selected studies, clinical decision support has been shown to decrease the time to follow-up actions, and prediction has proved useful in forecasting patient outcomes, avoiding costs, and correctly prompting treatment plan modifications by clinicians before engaging in decision-making. Clinical documentation accuracy and completeness is improved by an electronic health record and greater relevance of care data is delivered. Clinical decision support may increase clinician adherence to clinical guidelines, but educational workshops may be equally effective. Unintentional consequences of clinical decision support, such as alert desensitization, can decrease the effectiveness of a system. Current anesthesia clinical decision support use includes antibiotic administration timing, improved documentation, more timely billing, and postoperative nausea and vomiting prophylaxis. Electronic health record implementation offers data-mining opportunities to improve operational, financial, and clinical processes. Using electronic health record data in real-time for decision support and process automation has the potential to both reduce costs and improve the quality of patient care.

The results show that fewer than half of anesthesiology residents nationwide correctly demonstrate the approach considered the standard of care for preoperative cardiac evaluation. Further study is necessary to elucidate the correct intervention(s), such as use of decision support tools, increased clarity of guidelines for routine use, adjustment in educational programs, and/or greater familiarity of responsible faculty with the material.

Anesthesia Information Management Systems (AIMS) display and archive perioperative physiological data and patient information. Although currently in limited use, the potential benefits of an AIMS with regard to enhancement of patient safety, clinical effectiveness and quality improvement, charge capture and professional fee billing, regulatory compliance, and anesthesia outcomes research are great. The processes and precautions appropriate for AIMS selection, installation, and implementation are complex, however, and have been learned at each site by trial and error. This collaborative effort summarizes essential considerations for successful AIMS implementation, including product evaluation, assessment of information technology needs, resource availability, leadership roles, and training.

ObjectiveTo report the incidence of endophthalmitis, in addition to its clinical and microbiological aspects, after intravitreal injection of vascular-targeting agents.MethodsA retrospective review of a consecutive series of 10,142 intravitreal injections of vascular targeting agents (bevacizumab, ranibizumab, triamcinolone acetonide, and preservative-free triamcinolone acetonide) between June 1, 2007 and January 31, 2010, performed by a single service (TGM) at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.ResultsOne case of clinically-suspected endophthalmitis was identified out of a total of 10,142 injections (0.009%), presenting within three days of injection of bevacizumab. The case was culture-positive for Staphylococcus epidermidis. Final visual acuity was 20/40 after pars plana vitrectomy surgery.ConclusionsIn this series, the incidence of culture-positive endophthalmitis after intravitreal injection of vascular agents in an outpatient setting was very low. We believe that following a standardized injection protocol, adherence to sterile techniques and proper patient follow-up are determining factors for low incidence rates.

Automated anesthesia record-keeping systems (AARKs) are increasingly being used. There is a perception that AARKs may limit medical liability. We report a case in which our AARK may have increased our medical liability exposure. Nine months after a patient suffered a serious intraoperative complication, the anesthesiologist was named (as one of several defendants) in a claim alleging failure to properly monitor anesthetic care. One reason why the anesthesiologist was named related to a gap of 93 min in which no vital signs were documented in the anesthesia record. Relying on the physiological monitors to assess the patient's condition, the anesthesiologist did not recognize the interruption of data transmission, because the "active" medication window obscured the graphical display of the vital sign window.