Mathematical Model for Computer-Assisted Modification of Medication Dosing Rules

OBJECTIVE: Medication dosing in pediatrics is complex and prone to errors that may lead to patient harm. To improve computer-assisted dosing, a mathematical model and algorithm were developed to optimize clinical decision support dosing rules and reduce spurious alerts. The objective was to evaluate the feasibility of using this algorithm to adjust dosing rules. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Incorporating historical ordering data, a mathematical model and algorithm were developed to automatically determine optimal dosing rule parameters. The algorithm optimizes the dosing rules by balancing the number of alerts generated for a medication with a minimal length dose interval. In all, 5 candidate medications were tested. An analysis was performed to compare the number of alerts generated by the new model with the current dosing rules. RESULTS: For the 5 medications, the algorithm generated multiple clinically relevant rule possibilities and the rules returned performed as well as current dosing rule or matched historical prescriber behavior. The rules were comparable to or better than the existing system rules in reducing the total alert burden. DISCUSSION: The mathematical model and algorithm are an accurate and scalable solution to adjusting medication dosing rules. They can be implemented to change suboptimal rules more quickly than current manual methods and can be used to help identify and correct poor quality rules. CONCLUSIONS: Mathematical modeling using historic prescribing data can generate clinically appropriate electronic dosing rule parameters. This approach represents an automatable and scalable solution that could help reduce alert fatigue and decrease medication dosing errors.