Thanks for starting this discussion Dr. Sittig,
In my last role as an experienced critical care RN, I would rapidly click through clinical alerts for drug reactions. As an example, if a patient was “allergic” to one opiate (Codeine) then drug warnings would pop up each time (in Cerner in a large academic medical center) I attempted to administer, or document the medication.
Alert fatigue, much like alarm fatigue offers a “cry wolf” idiom in that attention is no longer directed at what may sometimes be an important alert.
What is important in the build, from my perspective, is that not only are drug-drug alert interactions consistent and supported in clinical evidence, but that they are useful to the clinician.
I wonder if the alerts could also be tailored to an experience/qualification level. For example, some alerts would quickly be overridden by anesthesia, but a novice RN or MD might benefit. My RN students do benefit from learning alerts/interactions as their pharmacology knowledge is weak for about the first 5 years of nursing.
I look forward to more on this discussion!
Brigette