Current evidence shows that computerized decision support systems (CDSS) have shown to be insufficiently effective to prevent adverse drug reactions (ADRs) at large scale (e.g. whole hospital). Several barriers for successful implementation of CDSS have been identified: over-alerting, lack of specificity of rules, and physician interruption during prescription. The effectiveness of CDSS could be increased in two ways. Firstly, by creating rules that are more specific to a given adverse drug reaction: the current study focuses on acute renal failure and hyperkalemia (two serious and frequent ADR in older hospitalized patients). Secondly, by involving the pharmacist in the review of the alerts so that he/she can transmit, if deemed necessary, a pharmaceutical recommendation to the clinician. This procedure will reduce over-alerting and prevent task interruption. The hypothesis is that the use of specific rules created by a multidisciplinary team and implemented in a CDSS, combined with a strategy for managing and transmitting alerts, can reduce specific ADRs such as hyperkalemia and acute renal failure.
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Number of adverse drug events such as acute renal failure and/or hyperkalemia in older hospitalized patients.
Timeframe: through study completion, an average of 20 days