Reducing Head CT Use in Patients with Mild Head Trauma

Implementation of a computerized decision support tool decreased head computed tomography ordering from 58% to 50% at a single trauma center.

Investigators at a level I trauma center retrospectively assessed the rate of head computed tomography (CT) ordering for patients with mild head trauma before and after implementation of a computerized decision support tool. The tool collects data from the ordering clinician and then alerts the clinician when the imaging study might be unnecessary due to low likelihood of a positive finding based on patient characteristics.

CT scans were ordered for significantly fewer patients after implementation (50%) than before (58%). For comparison, the authors examined use of head CT among similar patients in a national dataset and found no significant change during the study period (73% before and 77% after). Of study patients who did not undergo ima…

Reviewing Author

Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education

Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals

Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education

Reducing Head CT Use in Patients with Mild Head Trauma

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Reviewing Author