Automating the recognition and prioritization of needed preventive services: early results from the CHICA system.

An ever-growing plethora of preventive services guidelines threatens to overwhelm primary care providers who are expected to recognize and prioritize these needed services for each patient. The Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation (CHICA) system was designed to facilitate this process through a workflow-sensitive interface that gathers and distills the most relevant patient data within pediatric settings. We evaluated family responses to 21 CHICA questions that assess risk factors and health behaviors over a three month period. 3005 patients provided 15,434 responses to these questions, and 1756 or 11.3% of these suggest risk factors which merit attention. This preliminary analysis suggests that, using CHICA, families identify significant risk factors that our clinicians acknowledge are often overlooked given the realities of practicing within this setting.