Most sources define decision support systems as a systems that links a defined clinical knowledge base with at least two pieces of patient data (eg: name and age).
The decision support prediction tool available at Advise Rehab is an advanced form of decision support that uses a secret algorithm to predict your patient's recovery.
The algorithm has been validated by Mr. Phip Gabel and you can review his list of links here.
I tried it this summer (2010) with two patients of mine.
I was able to predict, with handsome graphs, the recovery of a patient with whiplash from an automobile accident.
My patient's predicted recovery graph was very similar to this graph from the Advise Rehab website.
I think the future of our profession will be determined by how well we understand the factors that drive patients' disablement and chronicity.
Tools that enable physical therapists to predict how long an episode of therapy will take and how much it will cost will enable therapists to manage the change.
I don't usually endorse products but physical therapist entrepreneurs and Information Technology vendors are being counted on to "carry the water" for the federal government since physical therapists currently do not participate in HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) funding for investment in Electronic Medical Records and Clinical Decision Support.
No physical therapy Electronic Medical Records vendors offer CDS technology that is aimed at clinical quality or outcomes management, that I know of.
All of the EMR vendors decision support seems oriented towards revenue enhancement and charge capture.
In the current healthcare environment, revenue enhancement is a rational response to the questionable financial incentives we've received from Medicare.
Mr. Gabel's decision support tool will have to attach to your EMR as an add-on. He charges about $20 per month with discounts for new users and small practices. It works out to about $1 per patient.
Clinical decision support that improve clinical outcomes will be well worth the money.
