ArticlePloS one2015
Cost-effectiveness of clinical decision support system in improving maternal health care in Ghana.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review of methodological approaches in economic evaluations of maternal and neonatal sepsis interventions in low- and middle-income countries.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effective non-drug interventions for improving outcomes and quality of maternal health care in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Can an mhealth clinical decision-making support system improve adherence to neonatal healthcare protocols in a low-resource setting?BMC pediatrics · 2020Trial
- Impact and cost-effectiveness of Neotree, a digital data capture and decision support tool designed to improve neonatal survival in Zimbabwe: an interrupted time series analysis and economic evaluation.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Integrated Digital Decision-Making Systems in Maternal Nursing and Maternity Care: A Scoping Review.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2026Review
- Electronic Clinical Decision Support Tools to Manage Patients with Lower Respiratory Tract Infection: Clinicians' Perspectives in Sri Lanka.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Article
- Standards for the conduct and reporting of health technology assessments: Ghana reference case of HTA and economic evaluations.International journal of technology assessment in health care · 2025Article
- Digitization in nursing processes and the use of clinical decision support systems: do they improve perinatal indicators?BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Clinical decision support systems for maternity care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2024Article
- Development and Pilot Implementation of Neotree, a Digital Quality Improvement Tool Designed to Improve Newborn Care and Survival in 3 Hospitals in Malawi and Zimbabwe: Cost Analysis Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Article
- Article
- Effects of computerized decision support on maternal and neonatal health-worker performance in the context of combined implementation with performance-based incentivisation in Upper East Region, Ghana: a qualitative study of professional perspectives.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Clinical Decision Support Systems.Visceral medicine · 2021Review
- Article
- Cost-effectiveness of an electronic clinical decision support system for improving quality of antenatal and childbirth care in rural Tanzania: an intervention study.BMC health services research · 2017Article
- Computerized Childbirth Monitoring Tools for Health Care Providers Managing Labor: A Scoping Review.JMIR medical informatics · 2017Article
- mHealth for Clinical Decision-Making in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis paper investigated the cost-effectiveness of a computer-assisted Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) in the identification of maternal complications in Ghana.
methodsA cost-effectiveness analysis was performed in a before- and after-intervention study. Analysis was conducted from the provider's perspective. The intervention area was the Kassena- Nankana district where computer-assisted CDSS was used by midwives in maternal care in six selected health centres. Six selected health centers in the Builsa district served as the non-intervention group, where the normal Ghana Health Service activities were being carried out.
resultsComputer-assisted CDSS increased the detection of pregnancy complications during antenatal care (ANC) in the intervention health centres (before-intervention = 9 /1,000 ANC attendance; after-intervention = 12/1,000 ANC attendance; P-value = 0.010). In the intervention health centres, there was a decrease in the number of complications during labour by 1.1%, though the difference was not statistically significant (before-intervention =107/1,000 labour clients; after-intervention = 96/1,000 labour clients; P-value = 0.305). Also, at the intervention health centres, the average cost per pregnancy complication detected during ANC (cost -effectiveness ratio) decreased from US$17,017.58 (before-intervention) to US$15,207.5 (after-intervention). Incremental cost -effectiveness ratio (ICER) was estimated at US$1,142. Considering only additional costs (cost of computer-assisted CDSS), cost per pregnancy complication detected was US$285.
conclusionsComputer -assisted CDSS has the potential to identify complications during pregnancy and marginal reduction in labour complications. Implementing computer-assisted CDSS is more costly but more effective in the detection of pregnancy complications compared to routine maternal care, hence making the decision to implement CDSS very complex. Policy makers should however be guided by whether the additional benefit is worth the additional cost.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.