iRefer CDS live today – 22 November 2023

November 22, 2023

The iRefer Clinical Decision Support (CDS) System has launched today in our acute sites. The system has been trialled with acute medicine and general surgery prior to it going live across the Trust.

iRefer CDS uses the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) iRefer guidelines to help guide clinicians through the imaging referral process that exists in Unity.

This will result in:

• Improved standardisation of care through reduced clinical variation with national guidelines accessible at point of care.
• A reduction in the number of inappropriate image requests and subsequent reduction in the number of cancelled or rejected requests.
• Supporting decision making at the point of request, ensuring the patient receives the right test, first time.
• Improvement in patient safety by avoiding unnecessary ionising radiation exposure.
• The system will be trialled to ensure any changes needed are identified and to get feedback from clinicians before deploying the system across the Trust.

Will the referral process change?

iRefer CDS will integrate with the existing radiology referral process in Unity and no additional logins are needed.

The referral process will remain the same with the addition of context sensitive questions to guide the referrer to the most appropriate imaging request, based on the RCR guidelines.

This will provide clinicians with evidence-based guidance at the point of Imaging referral to help ensure our patients receive the most appropriate investigation.

iRefer CDS is simple to use and does not require extensive training. The Quick Reference Guide (QRG) is available via eCoach in Unity and on the Connect page here