Centering Weight Management Clinical Decision Support in Primary Care on Patients With Obesity and Practitioners: A Proof‐Of‐Concept Study

• Published in: Obesity science & practice Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. e70056 - n/a
• Main Authors: Gudzune, Kimberly A., Schwartz, Jessica L., Olsson, Kelly, Almazan, Erik, Beck, Thomas Grader, Ghosh, Jyotsna, Bennett, Wendy L., Clark, Jeanne M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.02.2025; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Adults; Automation; Body mass index; Body weight; Clinical decision making; clinical decision support systems; Clinical medicine; Clinics; Counseling; Decision making; Electronic health records; Electronic medical records; Intervention; Literature reviews; Medical records; Obesity; Original; Patients; point-of-care systems; Primary care; primary health care; Questionnaires; Self-efficacy; Systematic review; t-test; telemedicine; Usability; Weight control; weight loss; clinical decision support systems; primary health care; obesity
• ISSN: 2055-2238; 2055-2238
• DOI: 10.1002/osp4.70056

ABSTRACT Background Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are electronic health record tools that support practitioners' decision‐making at the point‐of‐care. CDSS may aid clinical care but are not often centered on patients or practitioners. Aims To develop and preliminarily test a CDSS designed to support evidence‐based obesity treatment, promote a patient‐centered experience, and integrate with clinical workflows. Materials & Methods The CDSS allowed patients to complete a pre‐visit questionnaire via the patient portal, which activated multiple elements for the primary care practitioner (PCP). A 3‐month proof‐of‐concept study was conducted among 10 PCPs at 5 clinics to determine usefulness, usability, and acceptability through validated surveys (mean score ≥ 2.5 signified positive outcome; max 5). Using t‐tests, pre‐post differences in PCPs' frequency of self‐reported clinical practices (1‐never; 5‐always) were examined. Results Most PCPs were physicians with mean experience of 10.8 years (SD 7.5). Overall, mean scores for usefulness, usability, and acceptability were 3.2 (SD 0.8), 3.5 (SD 0.9), and 3.6 (SD 0.9), respectively. PCPs reported significant increases in three key clinical practices—counseling on behavioral interventions (3.1 vs. 3.9 [p < 0.01]), referring to weight‐loss programs (2.8 vs. 3.5 [p < 0.01]), and discussing anti‐obesity medications (3.3 vs. 3.8 [p = 0.02]). Conclusion This weight management CDSS was useful and usable for PCPs and improved obesity‐related practice habits. Future studies need to evaluate its impact on patient outcomes.