Evidence-Based App Helps Nurses Diagnose

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

Nurses using a decision support app were more likely to diagnose depression, weight issues, and tobacco use than those not using the app.

The Columbia University School of Nursing designed and tested a decision support app aimed at helping nurses reach accurate diagnoses faster. According to iHealth Beat, researchers first analyzed the rates of diagnoses for adult and pediatric depression, obesity, and tobacco use in nearly 35,000 patient exams. These exams were carried out by 363 registered nurses enrolled in nurse practitioner programs at Columbia Nursing.

To test the app, researchers gave the nurses mobile devices - some with evidence-based decision support tools and others with an app that simply recorded exam results. Clinical Innovation reports those using the decision support app diagnosed 44 percent more patients. The rates, compared here with those from the group which had the simple recording app, were higher in all cases.

• seven times more obese and overweight (33.9 percent vs. 4.8 percent)
• five times more tobacco use (11.9 percent versus 2.3 percent)
• 44 times more adult depression (8.8 percent versus 0.2 percent)
• four times more pediatric depression (4.6 percent versus 1.1 percent)

“What clinicians need is decision support tools that fit into their workflow and remind them of evidence-based practices,” said lead study author Suzanne Bakken, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, Alumni Professor of Nursing and Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia Nursing, in a press release. “Our app focused specifically on the work that nurse practitioners do to identify health problems, counsel patients, and coordinate care plans, resulting in higher diagnosis rates and more opportunities for intervention.”

Researchers explain the app may have worked because “unlike software aimed at physicians that focuses more on diagnostic codes needed for medical billing, it prompted nurse practitioners to follow evidence-based clinical guidelines to screen, diagnose, and manage specific conditions and encouraged detailed conversations with patients about their health.”