[medinformatics] Decision Support Good for the Heart

[Healthcare Informatics News]

Richard Reynolds has been a Fort Wayne Cardiology patient since 1998, the year a heart attack
dramatically changed his health habits.*Reynolds and hundreds of other patients are helping Indiana’s Fort Wayne
Cardiology test a system that could put the city on the map for improving America’s cardiac care. From the Fort
Wayne News-Sentinel:

At the end of a routine exam last month, a nurse gave him a printout listing his dietary supplements and
medications, calling special attention to the discontinuation of Plavix. The drug “makes your blood platelets
slippery so they don’t clog,” he said.

The printout was generated by WebChart, an electronic medical records system developed by Fort Wayne-based
Medical Informatics Engineering. A new cardiac decision support software
developed in collaboration with Parkview Research Center has been
added to that system on a test basis.

Fort Wayne Cardiology has been conducting research to determine how WebChart with the decision support software
affects patient care. The study has shown “best practices” are followed more frequently with drug therapy when
doctors use the system.


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