Are clinicians' information needs and decision support affected by different models of care? Experimental study.

This study explores task- and healthcare model-specific differences in clinicians' information needs which can affect the uptake of decision support. Results of a web experiment involving 104 general practitioners are presented. Respondents indicated that guidelines were the most important source of information with almost equal weighting for acute, chronic and preventive care. A patient's quality of life was identified as the most important determinant of decision-making in all three models of care. Risk assessment tools and information about outcomes were more valuable (P<0.05) for chronic and preventive care than for acute cases. The participants accessed electronic risk assessment tools in 54%, 45% and 81% of acute, chronic and preventive care scenarios, respectively. Participants estimated that the electronic decision support would have a significantly higher impact in preventive care than in chronic or acute care settings (P=0.01). The differences in the information needs of clinicians related to different care models have to be considered in the design of clinical decision support systems. Systems that target preventive model decisions may have higher adoption and impact.