Adoption, acceptance, and use of a decision support tool to promote timely investigations for cancer in primary care

Background: The complexities of diagnosing cancer in general practice has driven the development of quality improvement (QI) interventions, including clinical decision support (CDS) and auditing tools. Future Health Today (FHT) is a novel QI tool, consisting of CDS at the point-of-care, practice population-level auditing, recall, and the monitoring of QI activities.

Objectives: Explore the acceptability and usability of the FHT cancer module, which flags patients with abnormal test results that may be indicative of undiagnosed cancer.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with general practitioners (GPs) and general practice nurses (GPNs), from practices participating in a randomized trial evaluating the appropriate follow-up of patients. Clinical Performance Feedback Intervention Theory (CP-FIT) was used to analyse and interpret the data.

Results: The majority of practices reported not using the auditing and QI components of the tool, only the CDS which was delivered at the point-of-care. The tool was used primarily by GPs; GPNs did not perceive the clinical recommendations to be within their role. For the CDS, facilitators for use included a good workflow fit, ease of use, low time cost, importance, and perceived knowledge gain. Barriers for use of the CDS included accuracy, competing priorities, and the patient population.

Conclusions: The CDS aligned with the clinical workflow of GPs, was considered non-disruptive to the consultation and easy to implement into usual care. By applying the CP-FIT theory, we were able to demonstrate the key drivers for GPs using the tool, and what limited the use by GPNs.