TY - JOUR
T1 - Cost-Effectiveness of an Electronic Medical Record Based Clinical Decision Support System
AU - Gilmer, Todd P.
AU - O'Connor, Patrick J.
AU - Sperl-Hillen, Joann M.
AU - Rush, William A.
AU - Johnson, Paul E.
AU - Amundson, Gerald H.
AU - Asche, Stephen E.
AU - Ekstrom, Heidi L.
PY - 2012/12
Y1 - 2012/12
N2 - Background and Objective Medical groups have invested billions of dollars in electronic medical records (EMRs), but few studies have examined the cost-effectiveness of EMR-based clinical decision support (CDS). This study examined the cost-effectiveness of EMR-based CDS for adults with diabetes from the perspective of the health care system. Data Sources/Setting Clinical outcome and cost data from a randomized clinical trial of EMR-based CDS were used as inputs into a diabetes simulation model. The simulation cohort included 1,092 patients with diabetes with A1c above goal at baseline. Study Design The United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study Outcomes Model, a validated simulation model of diabetes, was used to evaluate remaining life years, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and health care costs over patient lifetimes (40-year time horizon) from the health system perspective. Principal Findings Patients in the intervention group had significantly lowered A1c (0.26 percent, p =.014) relative to patients in the control arm. Intervention costs were $120 (SE = 45) per patient in the first year and $76 (SE = 45) per patient in the following years. In the base case analysis, EMR-based CDS increased lifetime QALYs by 0.04 (SE = 0.01) and increased lifetime costs by $112 (SE = 660), resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $3,017 per QALY. The cost-effectiveness of EMR-based CDS persisted in one-way, two-way, and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Conclusions Widespread adoption of sophisticated EMR-based CDS has the potential to modestly improve the quality of care for patients with chronic conditions without substantially increasing costs to the health care system.
AB - Background and Objective Medical groups have invested billions of dollars in electronic medical records (EMRs), but few studies have examined the cost-effectiveness of EMR-based clinical decision support (CDS). This study examined the cost-effectiveness of EMR-based CDS for adults with diabetes from the perspective of the health care system. Data Sources/Setting Clinical outcome and cost data from a randomized clinical trial of EMR-based CDS were used as inputs into a diabetes simulation model. The simulation cohort included 1,092 patients with diabetes with A1c above goal at baseline. Study Design The United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study Outcomes Model, a validated simulation model of diabetes, was used to evaluate remaining life years, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and health care costs over patient lifetimes (40-year time horizon) from the health system perspective. Principal Findings Patients in the intervention group had significantly lowered A1c (0.26 percent, p =.014) relative to patients in the control arm. Intervention costs were $120 (SE = 45) per patient in the first year and $76 (SE = 45) per patient in the following years. In the base case analysis, EMR-based CDS increased lifetime QALYs by 0.04 (SE = 0.01) and increased lifetime costs by $112 (SE = 660), resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $3,017 per QALY. The cost-effectiveness of EMR-based CDS persisted in one-way, two-way, and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Conclusions Widespread adoption of sophisticated EMR-based CDS has the potential to modestly improve the quality of care for patients with chronic conditions without substantially increasing costs to the health care system.
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1475-6773.2012.01427.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1475-6773.2012.01427.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 22578085
AN - SCOPUS:84869093535
SN - 0017-9124
VL - 47
SP - 2137
EP - 2158
JO - Health services research
JF - Health services research
IS - 6
ER -