"Better" clinical decisions do not necessarily require more time to make

Citation

McCleary N, Francis JJ, Campbell MK, Ramsay CR, Eccles MP, Treweek S & Allan J (2017) "Better" clinical decisions do not necessarily require more time to make. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 82, p. 173–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.11.004

Abstract
First paragraph: The web-based intervention modelling experiment (IME; randomised study in a simulated setting) reported by Treweek and colleagues [1] provided support for using IME methodology in the evaluation of interventions to improve quality of care. As well as the management decision made, Treweek and colleagues{\textquoteright} data on general practitioners{\textquoteright} (GPs) responses to scenarios describing uncomplicated Upper Respiratory Tract infection (URTI) included a measure of perceived decision difficulty for each decision, and the time taken to make each decision. To further inform the development of interventions to improve quality of care, we analysed these data, aiming to quantify the relationships between decision difficulty, decision appropriateness, and the speed at which decisions were made.

Keywords
Primary Care; Upper respiratory tract infection; Clinical decision making; Antibiotic prescribing; Patient scenario; Cognition

Journal
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology: Volume 82

People

Professor Julia Allan

Professor in Psychology, Psychology