Case Study: University Health reduces alert fatigue with Cerner

University Health reduces mCDS alerts by 77% with Cerner

University Health, a Cerner ITWorks client, faced a significant challenge with alert fatigue caused by excessive medication clinical decision support (mCDS) pop-up alerts in its EHR. These frequent and often unnecessary notifications were being ignored by providers, pharmacists, and nurses, potentially causing them to overlook critical information and impacting staff workflow and burnout.

To address this, University Health engaged Cerner's Continuous Improvement Delivery (CID) services. Cerner worked with the health system's pharmacy experts to optimize alert settings and implement filtering, particularly within PowerPlan order sets like the alcohol withdrawal protocol. This solution from Cerner led to a dramatic 77% reduction in the overall mCDS alert rate, suppressing over 56,000 alerts per month and allowing staff to work more efficiently and focus on important patient care.

University Health