Clinician satisfaction increases with easy-to-use clinical tools

Although Riverside Health had used UpToDate clinical decision support (CDS) for some time, when they noticed several comparable large health systems and medical schools switching to a lower-cost competitor, its leadership opted to follow suit, explains Charles O. Frazier, MD, FAAFP, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Information and Innovation Officer.

However, almost immediately after replacing UpToDate, the informatics team experienced strong pushback from physicians and other frequent CDS users. To find out exactly how the Riverside clinicians were managing with their new solution, Dr. Frazier’s team conducted a user survey, and the results were clear:

• 95% of respondents felt UpToDate was easier and faster to use.
• 0% preferred the new solution for ease of use.

“The most important indicator of success with a clinical solution is if it reduces friction for our providers and helps them be more effective and satisfied doing their jobs,” Dr. Frazier says. “The dollars and cents have to be balanced with clinician satisfaction.”

Riverside Health returned to UpToDate within a year of leaving.

Workflow efficiency now and for the health system’s future

Despite Riverside’s brief time using another CDS solution, Dr. Frazier says it was easy to switch back from a technology standpoint and simple for clinicians to pick back up where they left off. The intuitive interface didn’t require much training or onboarding for users. And UpToDate offered EHR integrations to foster efficient access to needed clinical intelligence and decision-making tools.

Upon returning to UpToDate, Riverside Health piloted the latest version of UpToDate Enterprise Edition, an advanced solution designed to support the care and administrative workflow needs of modern health systems. Riverside has access to an advanced analytics dashboard that allows their team to derive data-driven insights on community health, education needs, and more. It’s an upgrade that Dr. Frazier believes will be more helpful to organizations like his than basic vendor metrics. The team is looking ahead to more workflow enhancements to help drive further clinician satisfaction.

To learn more, read Riverside Health’s full story.