Decision Aids Help Clinicians, Health Systems Use Evidence in Systematic Reviews

Decision aids can help clinicians and health systems make fuller use of evidence available in systematic reviews, an AHRQ-funded study published in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine found. Researchers at AHRQ’s Mayo Clinic Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) Program developed two decision aids—one for health systems and one for clinicians and patients. The tools were based on the EPC’s systematic review on the management of anxiety in children, in addition to feedback interviews of health system representatives, clinicians and patients. After respondents agreed the decision aids could help with decision-making, researchers concluded that the uptake of evidence by health systems as well as clinicians and patients can be enhanced by developing tools that provide contextual and implementation information about clinical care. This study was part of an AHRQ EPC program initiative designed to develop ways to make the reviews more useful to health systems. Access the study abstract and an AHRQ report about the study.

EPC Pilot Project: A Dual Approach To Facilitate Health Systems Uptake of Evidence Synthesis Reports. Anxiety in Children

RESEARCH REPORT

October 1, 2018

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This report is from AHRQ's series on Health Systems Partnership Pilot Project Reports. These reports describe the efforts of Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) to work with health care decisionmakers and facilitate the use of information from AHRQ EPC evidence reports.

Key Messages

Findings: A health system decision aid and an encounter decision aid were shown to be feasible and effective tools that can provide health systems with contextual and implementation information on the treatment of anxiety in children.
Lessons learned for EPC Program: Comparative effectiveness evidence syntheses often do not have sufficient information that allows decision-making and implementation of evidence. This includes information on costs, resources, patients' values, acceptability and feasibility of interventions. Additional synthesis of study characteristics and intervention components is often needed.
Utility for health systems: A dual approach that caters to the needs of both health system decision-makers and the clinician-patient dyad may facilitate uptake of evidence synthesis reports by health systems.