Training activity information
Details
Create a proposal for a clinical decision support tool and assess the benefits and risks of the proposed tool
Type
Developmental training activity (DTA)
Evidence requirements
Evidence the activity has been undertaken by the trainee.
Reflection on the activity at one or more time points after the event including learning from the activity and/or areas of the trainees practice for development.
An action plan to implement learning and/or to address skills or knowledge gaps identified.
Considerations
- Benefit to clinicians in rapidly distilling large datasets to support clinical decision making
- Decision making
- Risks and benefits to the patient as a result of care decisions driven by the tool
- Methods for validating the tool’s output and refining its function
Reflective practice guidance
The guidance below is provided to support reflection at different time points, providing you with questions to aid you to reflect for this training activity. They are provided for guidance and should not be considered as a mandatory checklist. Trainees should not be expected to provide answers to each of the guidance questions listed.
Before action
- What foundational knowledge about clinical decision support tools, risk assessment, regulation, and proposal writing do you need before starting?
- What specific insights do you hope to gain regarding the practicalities of designing a decision support tool and evaluating its impact? What is your current understanding of clinical decision support tools, their benefits, and associated risks?
- Have you discussed the specifics of this proposal with your training officer? What clarity are you seeking? What potential challenges might you encounter in formulating the proposal or assessing the benefits and risks? How might you address these? How do you feel about undertaking this task? What might influence your approach?
In action
- As you work on the proposal, what decisions are you making about the tool’s functionality and the scope of your risk/benefit assessment?
- How are you approaching the task of balancing potential benefits with potential risks in your proposal? Is this approach proving effective?
- Are you finding certain aspects of creating the proposal or assessing risks/benefits more challenging than others? What adjustments are you making to address these challenges?
- What parts of this task do you feel confident in, and where do you feel less confident?
- Does your clinical decision support tool fall under the Medical Devices Regulations? If so, what are the implications of this? If not, are there any other pieces of regulation it needs to comply with? Where can you go for advice on this topic?
On action
- What were the main elements of your proposed clinical decision support tool? What key benefits and risks did you identify and how did you assess them?
- What did you learn about the process of developing a proposal for a digital health tool? What new insights did you gain into assessing benefits and risks in this context? Were there any unexpected challenges in formulating the proposal or evaluating the benefits and risks? What did you learn from overcoming these? How did your in-the-moment decisions during the creation of the proposal and risk assessment influence the final outcome? How does the ability to propose and evaluate digital health tools relate to your future role as a Clinical Scientist?
- What aspects of proposal writing or risk/benefit assessment do you need to develop further? How will you approach similar tasks in the future based on this experience? What specific actions will you take to improve? What further information or resources would be helpful for developing future proposals for clinical decision support tools?
Beyond action
- Have you revisited your proposal and risk/benefit assessment? How does your current understanding of clinical decision support tools compare to when you completed this activity?
- What observable practices related to decision support tool design, benefits, or risks have you since incorporated?
- Looking back at your reflections from this training activity and others, what overarching learning about decision support tools has emerged? What future actions will you take based on this broader understanding?
- Have you discussed your proposal or assessment with peers? Has their perspective changed how you view your original work?
- How has the knowledge gained from creating this proposal and assessing its implications influenced your understanding of other training activities, for example, appraising regulations or reviewing existing tools?
- In what ways has your ability to assess benefits and risks of digital health tools developed since this activity? How has this influenced your wider practice?
- How might the experience of developing this proposal and considering its impact contribute to your future involvement in decision support tool implementation or evaluation? What transferable skills did you develop? What further development is needed?
Relevant learning outcomes
| # | Outcome |
|---|---|
| # 1 |
Outcome
Describe the purpose and function of Decision Support Tools in healthcare. |
| # 2 |
Outcome
Appraise the risk and benefits of using Decision Support Tools in clinical practice. |
| # 4 |
Outcome
Design a simple Decision Support Tool to solve a clinical problem. |