Nudging towards safer decision making

The impact of evidence-based decision-making on patient safety has come under close examination. The gap between theory and practice is still a challenge for clinicians and allied health professionals; ‘doing the right thing’ is not always straightforward, especially with pressures due to factors such as staff shortages, competing priorities or complex patient cases.

However, digitalizing manual tasks, such as prescriptions, and introducing technological innovations can enhance evidence-based decision-making to improve patient safety.

Laís Junqueira, Quality, Patient Safety & Innovation Manager, Elsevier, explores how ’Nudges’ (a behavioral economics concept in optimizing choices through safer and healthier behaviors) can guide clinicians towards making informed decisions and reduce the ‘know-do’ gap, as studies have already shown. Nudges can range from medication alerts to active support for clinical decision-making.

With NHS workforce shortages at an all-time high and clinicians needing to do more but with less time, the key to improving patient safety can lie with knowledge-driven digital technology combined with choice architectures. Healthcare providers just need a nudge in the right direction.