Health care providers need access to up-to-date clinical decision support tools quickly and easily in and around the moments of care. To satisfy this need, more and more providers are using clinical decision support apps as part of their larger clinical decision support systems.

Providers use clinical decision support apps to:

• Check drug recommendations for prescribing and safety information
• Check for potential drug-drug interactions
• Diagnosis and treatment information
• Understand current clinical practice guidelines

In a recent Modern Healthcare survey, respondents mentioned 83 different clinical decision support apps, but said they relied on established, trusted apps. Epocrates was their top choice as the most important clinical decision support app, for the second year in a row.¹

What makes a good app? One factor is whether it offers timely and immediate access to clinical intelligence—whenever and wherever it is needed. Providers typically use a mix of clinical decision support apps and other clinical decision support tools at any given time, based on specialty, patient population and individual preference. But even good clinical decision support apps require navigation among multiple programs. The best apps—and the ones most likely to optimize patient care—offer “one stop shopping.” They empower providers with confidence and information, with a minimum of maneuvering and tapping.

Good clinical decision support apps are actively curated. The most trusted apps set editorial standards to ensure content is accurate, current, unbiased, relevant, essential and readily consumable during the moments of care.

The best clinical decision support apps that capture patient data also seamlessly connected to the EHR. This eliminates the extra step of updating patient charts from a desktop station.

^{1 Joseph Conn. (December 14, 2013) No longer a novelty, medical apps are increasingly valuable to providers and patients. Modern Healthcare. Available here.}