A decision support system for improving doctors' prescribing behavior

  • Authors:

  • Chinho Lin;Chun Mei Lin;Binshan Lin;Ming-Chin Yang

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Industrial Management Science and Institute of Information Management, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan;Department of Industrial Management Science and Institute of Information Management, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan and Bureau of National Health Insurance, Southern Region Branch of Taiwa ...;College of Business Administration, BE321, Louisiana State University in Shreveport, One University Place, Shreveport, LA 71115, USA;Graduate Institute of Health Care Organization Administration, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

  • Venue:
  • Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

The study adopts a well-defined game theory with a decision support system (DSS) to embed the critical factors involved in coordination game equilibrium. A data-warehouse-based DSS is used as a coordinating instrument along with the disclosure of quality report cards. Feedback on prescribing, giving information on aggregated data, along with the DSS, could be sufficient to improve prescribing behavior. The aim of this study was to apply a DSS with pre-play communication of the coordination game theory to the improvement of doctors' antibiotic prescribing behavior. We examined whether the DSS improved the prescribing behavior, and assessed how well the participating doctors improved quality of care. We found the group using the system had a greater decrease in antibiotic prescription than the non-DSS group. This study concluded that the DSS with game-theory modeling has made significant contributions for improving the doctors' prescribing behavior. Future research directions and managerial implications are addressed as well.