Interruptive Clinical Decision Support Prompts More Suicide Risk Assessments

Interruptive clinical decision support with an on-screen pop-up led to significantly more decisions to screen

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Jan. 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Interruptive clinical decision support (CDS) is significantly more effective at prompting in-person suicide risk assessment than noninterruptive CDS, according to a study published online Jan. 3 in JAMA Network Open.

Colin G. Walsh, M.D., from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of risk model-driven CDS on suicide risk assessment. The analysis included 561 neurology patients (596 clinician encounters) randomly assigned to interruptive or noninterruptive CDS.

The researchers found that after adjusting for clinician cluster effects, interruptive CDS with an on-screen pop-up led to significantly higher numbers of decisions to screen (42 versus 4 percent for noninterruptive CDS; odds ratio, 17.70). Interruptive CDS also led to significantly higher numbers of decisions to screen compared with the baseline rate the prior year (8 percent of encounters). There were no documented episodes of suicidal ideation or attempts in either arm.

“In this randomized clinical trial of interruptive and noninterruptive CDS to prompt face-to-face suicide risk assessment, interruptive CDS led to higher numbers of decisions to screen with documented suicide risk assessments,” the authors write. “Well-powered large-scale trials randomizing this type of CDS compared with standard of care are indicated to measure effectiveness in reducing suicidal self-harm.”

One author disclosed ties to HealthStream.