Editor’s Capsule Summary
What is already known on this topic
Some emergency departments (EDs) are using clinical decision support modules in electronic medical record software, but there are few studies on clinical utility.
What question this study addressed
A module aimed at improving compliance with pneumonia treatment guidelines was incorporated into the electronic medical record software at 4 of 7 Utah EDs, and 30-day mortality outcomes were compared between EDs with and without the intervention for 4,758 pneumonia patients.
What this study adds to our knowledge
Physicians applied the tool for 62.6% of pneumonia patients in intervention EDs. There was no difference in overall mortality, but it was less among patients with community-acquired pneumonia at EDs using the tool (odds ratio=0.53; 95% confidence interval 0.28 to 0.99).
How this is relevant to clinical practice
These results are not compelling enough to recommend that EDs add electronic clinical decision support for pneumonia, but they are worthy of further study.