A Human(e) Factor in Clinical Decision Support Systems

Abstract

The overwhelming amount, production speed, multidimensionality, and potential value of data currently available-often simplified and referred to as big data -exceed the limits of understanding of the human brain. At the same time, developments in data analytics and computational power provide the opportunity to obtain new insights and transfer data-provided added value to clinical practice in real time. What is the role of the health care professional in collaboration with the data scientist in the changing landscape of modern care? We discuss how health care professionals should provide expert knowledge in each of the stages of clinical decision support design: data level, algorithm level, and decision support level. Including various ethical considerations, we advocate for health care professionals to responsibly initiate and guide interprofessional teams, including patients, and embrace novel analytic technologies to translate big data into patient benefit driven by human(e) values.