Development of an Educational Strategy and Decision Support Tool to Enhance Appropriate Use of Stress Echocardiography at a Large Academic Medical Center: A Prospective, Pre- and Postintervention Analysis

Background: Despite previous studies demonstrating suboptimal appropriate use of stress echocardiography (SE), few interventions have been demonstrated to improve its appropriate use. The aim of this study was to develop a novel mechanism to improve the appropriateness of SE by implementing a point-of-care decision support tool and ordering requisition coupled with an educational strategy.

Methods: A prospective pre- and postintervention analysis was conducted. The intervention included education and the development and implementation of novel ordering requisition coupled with a decision support tool that integrated appropriate use criteria (AUC) for SE.

Results: In the baseline period, 256 consecutive stress echocardiographic studies were evaluated, and 97% were classifiable by the 2011 AUC. During the intervention period, 159 studies were evaluated (98% classifiable). The intervention resulted in an increase in the appropriate proportion from 65% to 76% and a reduction in the rarely appropriate proportion from 31% to 19% (P = .017). After adjustment for physician specialty, the postintervention period had lower odds of rarely appropriate testing (0.54; 95% CI, 0.3-0.95; P = .04). Cardiology had significant lower odds of rarely appropriate testing (0.23; 95% CI, 0.11-0.50; P < .001) compared with family practice (the reference standard). Vascular surgery had the highest odds (5.76; 95% CI, 2.18-21.52; P = .002) of rarely appropriate testing.

Conclusion: AUC have not previously been applied to SE in a single-payer, publicly funded health system. The development of an educational intervention involving a new requisition and decision support tool that integrated AUC resulted in a significantly reduced proportion of rarely appropriate SE. Cardiologists ordered the highest proportion of appropriate SE. Further study is needed to determine the generalizability of the results.