Introduction to the use of decision technologies in health care

As the health service confronts the combined pressures of constrained budgets, ageing populations and rising prevalence of chronic diseases, there is a growing recognition of the need to make the most of routine information to guide both commissioning care and clinical decision-making.

The last 30 years have been characterised by the development of information technology, and it has often been argued that in the coming decades we will see the rise of decision technology: that is, the use of technology to help make better decisions. This seminar series explored how decision technology can best be used in the NHS.

This seminar series brought together clinicians and commissioners to:

• Explore the evidence for and understanding of how decision technologies can be used to improve access, quality, equity and efficiency of health care planning, delivery and decision making;
• Consider how decision tools can be used to inform clinical and commissioning decisions;
• Highlight innovative practice in the use of routine information in helping patients, clinicians and commissioners to make informed decisions.

This seminar, the first in the series, looked at the emergence of decision technologies which synthesise a variety of routine information sources with the users’ values and preferences in order to guide better decision making.

We welcomed speakers including:

• Professor Jack Dowie, Professor Emeritus of Health Impact Analysis, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine;
• Professor David Patterson, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, University College London; 
• Perran Pengelly, Lead Consultant, Newton Europe Ltd;
• Dr Ganesh Suntharalingam, Clinical Director, Critical Care, North West London Hospitals NHS Trust.

Speakers were also joined in discussion by Lindsey Sutherland, IT Director, Newton Europe Ltd. The event was chaired by Dr Geraint Lewis, Senior Fellow, Nuffield Trust.

You can access further information about our work on research methods and information tools on our dedicated area of work page.