INTRODUCTION

Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) play an important role in summarizing the best clinical practices, thereby promoting high standards of care in specific medical fields. These systems can serve as tools for gaining knowledge and mediating between clinical guidelines and physicians thereby providing the right information to the right person at the right time.

OBJECTIVE

This review aims to evaluate the effect of CDSSs on adherence to guidelines for venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis and VTE events compared to routine care without CDSSs in non-surgical patients.

METHODS

In order to conduct a systematic literature review, the published studies were identified through screening EMBASE, the international clinical trials registry, OVID, Cochrane database, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and Scopus databases, from 1982 to March 2021. The included studies were reviewed by two independent reviewers; the proportion of patients that correctly received VTE prophylaxis has been next extracted for further analysis. Additionally, patients were divided into two groups: CDSS-recommended VTE prophylaxis and routine care without using a CDSS.

RESULTS

Twelve articles (three randomized controlled trials, seven prospective cohort trials, and two retrospective cohort trials) were in fine analyzed. The use of CDSSs is found to be associated with a significant increase in the rate of using the appropriate prophylaxis for VTE ( < 0.05) and a significant decrease in the incidence of VTE ( < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Implementation of CDSSs can help improving the appropriate use of VTE prophylaxis in non-surgical patients. Further, evidence-based and interventional studies on the development of CDSSs can provide more in-depth knowledge on both this tool design and efficiency.