KC Business Journal: New tool assists doctors' decision-making
Children's Mercy and a Kansas City developer have partnered to help doctors more easily make the most accurate diagnosis.
The hospital and Engage Mobile Solutions presented the results of their Children's Mercy Pediatric Decision Support tool (CMPeDS) this week at the Pediatric Academic Societies' annual meeting in San Francisco. Dr. Russell McCulloh, a Children's Mercy infectious diseases physician who collaborated on the tool, made the presentation on the app, which launched just over six months ago.
"Having an app is not a big deal. Having an app that creates better care for children is the goal," said Matthew Barksdale, president at Engage Mobile Solutions. "We have done a lot of decision-support tools for doctors. The big issue is, with the least amount of effort, how do you help them make big decisions?"
Barksdale said the tool allows doctors to input specific information about a patient and his or her symptoms, which then makes a recommendation based on Children's Mercy's diagnostic protocols. Specifically, he said the app was designed to make doctor's lives easier, not more complex.
"Hospitals are really looking for ways to increase the likelihood that doctors are going to consistently make the right decisions based on the right results and research," he said. "That's where having Children's Mercy behind it, and their research behind it, gives it credibility."
McCulloh presented the results from the first several months using the CMPeDS tool, such as the number of users, demographics and effect on patient care. Since it was deployed, he said, more than 6,000 users have downloaded the application.
"Health care providers feel like they're making better decisions with the help of this application," McCulloh said in a statement. "We are changing practice, and that practice is meaningfully improved, which means that we are really positively impacting the lives of children."
Read the arcticle via the Kansas City Business Journal.
Learn more about The Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Mercy.