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A system of interactive computer
alerts for providers improved outcomes for HIV-infected patients in a year-long
study at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The primary measure of
success was an increase in CD4-positive T cell counts during the period. Other
endpoints for the study were missed or unscheduled appointments and abnormal
lab results. The study included 33 providers and 1,011 patients in the
hospital’s outpatient clinic.
The control group in the study,
randomly assigned by researchers, comprised half of the total number of patients.
For this group, healthcare providers received alerts only on the patients’
electronic medical records. In contrast, alerts for the intervention group also
appeared on the provider’s home page; in biweekly emails; and via hyperlinks to
appointment schedules, lab results, and previous alerts. An automated nightly
check of hospital databases generated the alerts.
More than 90 percent of the
participating providers favored adopting the alert system into the standard of
care at the end of the trial. Massachusetts General has a strong informatics
system, which could have affected the results of the study.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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