About the Project

Order sets are conveniently grouped medical orders that work to standardize diagnosis and treatment following pre-established clinical guidelines. This tool have been used in medicine for a considerable period of time, initially as written documents developed at a very local level, and more recently as evolving documents that can be shared among institutions using web-based applications. Most recently, they have been incorporated into electronic patient record-keeping systems and even tied to online evidence from the literature. When the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee (OHTAC) wanted to formally assess the effectiveness and usefulness of order sets and to develop guidelines surrounding its implementation, they turned to Healthcare Human Factors.

The team undertook a systematic review of the literature to identify studies conducted in this area and to analyze the findings of these studies. The analysis revealed various benefits to using standardized order sets, including improved adherence to established guidelines. However, to implement order sets successfully, it is important to ensure that they are well-suited to the local needs. It is also important to involve practitioners in the development and implementation of order sets at any level in order to maximize user adoption.

An included study that measured the effect of order sets on mortality rate, treatment outcomes and processes of care.

Impact

Findings from this study were disseminated publicly via the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee (OHTAC) website to provide guidance for Ontarian clinicians and policy makers.