Drug information centres and their provision of decision support: The Scandinavian experience

Abstract

What is known and objective Appraisal of drug information centres (DICs) is mainly by word of mouth communication and surveys of overall user satisfaction. Efforts to study the impact of this type of informatics and decision support systematically are generally lacking within the healthcare system. Comment Scandinavian DICs question‐answering databases are relevant sources for identifying recurring problems in pharmacotherapy, including drug safety questions, and for re‐use of previous answers. Recent studies in this setting have shown that high‐quality answers demand easily accessible literature sources, skills in literature search and critical assessment of the retrieved documentation. Furthermore, patient‐specific advice in clinical cases presented within a requested time frame is appraised by clinicians. What is new and conclusions Effective decision support by Scandinavian DICs depends on skills among staff and technological resources. Our experience could motivate further studies investigating methods and evaluating the impact of DICs in the healthcare system.