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Clinical Decision Support

AI-driven Clinical Decision Support Systems (AI-CDSS) are rapidly emerging tools designed to support clinicians with evidence-based insights at the point of care.

An Introduction to Clinical Decision Support

Clinical Decision Support (CDS) refers to a broad range of tools and technologies that help healthcare clinicians make informed, evidence-based decisions at the point of care. These systems are designed to improve clinical workflows, enhance diagnostic accuracy, and support better patient outcomes by delivering relevant information such as guidelines, alerts, or recommendations, when and where it’s needed most.

As healthcare continues to evolve, CDS tools, including those powered by artificial intelligence (AI), are becoming increasingly prominent. They hold the potential to streamline care delivery and reduce cognitive burden, but also raise important questions around transparency, safety, and effectiveness.

Whether you’re a clinician, healthcare professional, or researcher, our goal is to provide a clear and balanced starting point for understanding what CDS is, how it’s being used, and what to consider when evaluating these technologies.

Our Current EMR Tools: Practical CDS in Use Today

While many AI-enabled CDS tools are still in early stages of adoption – and not yet regulated or widely implemented in primary care – our existing EMR-integrated tools offer a trusted and effective form of clinical decision support available today.

These tools provide actionable, evidence-based prompts and decision aids that support clinicians in delivering guideline-aligned care across a range of conditions. They are already being implemented across Ontario and continue to evolve based on clinician feedback and provincial priorities.

As we look ahead, we are actively exploring opportunities to incorporate emerging AI-based CDS technologies into our tool design, ensuring our approach remains grounded, responsible, and aligned with clinical realities.

Stay tuned as we continue to evaluate and test next-generation CDS tools that are safe, easy to use, and built to work in real-world primary care settings.

Find our EMR tools here

Key Considerations When Evaluating AI-CDSS

The growing number of AI-driven Clinical Decision Support Systems (AI-CDSS) on the market varies widely in scope, complexity, and reliability. As healthcare clinicians, administrators, and policymakers explore these tools, it’s important to assess not just their functionality, but also their clinical rigour, transparency, and overall safety.

Explainability and Transparency

  • Can clinicians understand how the tool generates its recommendations?
  • Are the sources of evidence, data inputs, and algorithms clearly disclosed?
  • Systems that operate as “black boxes” may undermine clinician trust and patient safety.

Evidence Quality

  • Is the tool grounded in current clinical guidelines or validated research?
  • Are there references to peer-reviewed studies or regulatory approvals?
  • Vendors should be clear about how evidence is selected, updated, and applied.

Use of Patient Data

  • Does the tool incorporate historical patient data or rely solely on current inputs?
  • Tools that lack longitudinal context may have limited relevance or precision in complex cases.
  • Consider the privacy, consent, and data integration implications.

Intended Use and Clinical Fit

  • Is the tool designed for a specific condition, workflow, or setting?
  • Can it be meaningfully integrated into your clinical environment or electronic health record (EHR)?
  • Overly general tools may lack the specificity needed for high-impact use.

Risk of Automation Bias

  • Does the interface encourage clinicians to accept AI-generated suggestions uncritically?
  • There should be clear cues for when to question or override recommendations.

Regulatory Landscape

  • Is the product approved, cleared, or registered with relevant health authorities?
  • With evolving regulations, it’s important to track how standards are applied to AI-CDSS tools.

Understanding the Categories of AI-CDSS

Diagnostic Analysis

AI-powered clinical decision support systems (AI-CDSS) designed for diagnostic analysis help clinicians interpret medical data such as images, test results, or chart information. These tools aim to enhance diagnostic accuracy and efficiency by identifying patterns or anomalies that may be difficult to detect manually. They are used across a variety of clinical domains, including radiology and dermatology, and can highlight potential areas of concern for further investigation. While some systems operate solely on present data inputs, others require integration with electronic medical records to provide deeper, context-aware insights. The level of data access significantly impacts the depth and relevance of support these tools can offer.

Chatbots for Clinical Questions

AI-enabled chatbots in healthcare act as conversational assistants for clinicians, offering fast access to medical knowledge, guidelines, and drug information. These systems use natural language processing to understand clinical questions and deliver timely, evidence-informed responses. Some also support workflow tasks like documentation or data collection. While many chatbots operate without patient-specific data, those integrated with clinical systems can offer more tailored, context-aware responses. Their use ranges from simple reference tools to more advanced, interactive assistants embedded into clinical environments.

Treatment Recommendations

AI-CDSS tools for treatment recommendations analyze patient data and align it with clinical guidelines to suggest appropriate therapeutic options. These systems are designed to support clinicians in selecting medications or interventions, personalizing care plans, and monitoring treatment progress. The effectiveness of these tools often depends on access to longitudinal patient data, as richer clinical histories enable more accurate and relevant recommendations. Some solutions rely on recent clinical inputs or assessments alone, while others are built to integrate with electronic health records to provide more comprehensive decision support.


Have questions about Clinical Decision Support Tools?

We’re here to help you navigate this evolving space.

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