Abstract
Background and Rationale: Acute ischemic stroke is a major public health problem in Thailand. Treatment decisions are based on the national clinical practice guideline (CPG). However, the guidelines are in the form of publications or pdf files, generating several barriers to implementation. Adopting clinical decision support (CDS) technology will increase practice effectiveness. This study intends to develop web application-based stroke guideline for physicians and teams in health care area 7. Methodology: Health professional team from health care area 7 convene for a discussion. We determine clinical practice gaps based on Thai CPG, develop a web application, evaluate user satisfaction, and track key performance indicators (KPI) after using the web application. The project has a one-year operating period. Results: This study structures guideline suggestions and converts evidence synthesis into executable knowledge for web applications via a multilayer framework (https://strokenetwork.kku.ac.th). The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is used to classify stroke subtypes. It is a clinical decision support (CDS) tool that assists physicians in making treatment decisions. CPG was separated according to the hospital's potential level. A list of hospitals consists of details necessary to assist physicians in planning patient referrals. The satisfaction of the health care teams was assessed. The CPG for health care area 7 in web application is appropriate: 40% strongly suitable, 60% suitable. NIHSS assessment are appropriate: 40% strongly suitable, 53% suitable. Easy to understand and convenient to use: 20% strongly agree, 40% agree. Web application will benefit actual clinical practice: 13% strongly agree, 73% agree. The KPI for stroke patient treatment at Srinagarind hospital demonstrated that specific indicators have potentially improved after the web application's implementation: increase of stroke fast track notification rate, increased rate of receiving intravenous thrombolytics, decreased rate of intracerebral hemorrhage with death post intravenous thrombolytics, shorter duration of receiving intravenous thrombolytics, increase proportion of patient with improved outcome, and decreased time of hospitalization. Conclusion and discussion: We demonstrate how to develop web application for physicians and healthcare teams. The web application guideline was appropriate, simple to understand, and easy to use. There are numerous potentially improved KPI. Web apps should benefit health care teams and have ability to improve in the future.
