Evaluation of an EHR-Integrated Dashboard for Diabetes Care

Detailed Summary

Diabetes is a significant medical problem in the United States and across the world. Despite significant progress in understanding how to better manage diabetes, there is oftentimes still uncertainty in the optimal management strategy for a specific patient. As a result, providers and patients must often use a trial-and-error approach to identify an effective treatment regimen. The objective of this research is to evaluate a diabetes dashboard integrated with the electronic health record (EHR) that has been developed as a collaborative project between the University of Utah and Hitachi, Ltd. This dashboard tool provides a graphical overview of the patient's relevant data parameters as well as information on the impact of different treatment options on previous patients with similar characteristics. The different treatment options compare the predicted impact of relevant medication regimens as well as weight loss. Primary care clinics are randomized to either an intervention condition where the tool is available or to a control condition where the tool is not yet available. Patients' hemoglobin A1c levels (a measure of diabetes control) are the main outcome variable. Other secondary analyses will also be conducted. Use of the tool will be encouraged but optional. Following any suggestions made in the tool will also be optional and up to the discretion of the clinician.

Study Details

Timeline

Interventions