MPH alumni collaborate on study to reduce unneeded lab tests
Diarrhea has many causes, and when there are prolonged or severe symptoms clinicians sometimes consider lab testing to help guide treatment. But sometimes they stray from published guidelines in the direction of overtesting.
Patty Wright, MD, associate professor of Medicine, and colleagues with the Vanderbilt Antimicrobial Stewardship Program examined whether adherence to diarrhea testing guidelines improved with targeted electronic delivery of decision support to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) clinicians at the moment of computerized order entry. Their study will appear in an upcoming edition of the American Journal of Medicine.
Wright was joined in the study by Chad Tewell, MD, Thomas Talbot, III, MD, MPH, George Nelson, MD, Bryan Harris, MD, Whitney Jones, PharmD, Narinder Midha, MS, SM, David Mulherin, PharmD, Eric Stephens, MBA, and Anuj Thirwani, PharmD.