A Proposed Strategy for Overcoming Inertia

This chapter posits that new communally developed and supported mechanisms are required and elaborates on a proposed strategy to bring this about. The pace of adoption will not significantly accelerate on its own. Yet the exigencies of the present are manifold and pressing, and the slow progress cannot be abided. Therefore, a fresh strategy is needed. Discussion, action, and suggestions helpful in accomplishing the goal of broad dissemination and wide use of high-quality clinical decision support contained herein are discussed. Part of the inertia is because of the fact that to systematically address the problem of accelerating adoption on a broad scale there is a need for considerable infrastructure, tools, and resources that is both daunting to individual efforts and requires concerted action that has not yet become organized. A considerable body of shared knowledge content is needed in addition to or as a basis for local adaptation and customization. Addressing the inertia thus requires that a much more coordinated, communal approach be developed to overcome barriers, align motivations, obtain support, and establish the mechanisms that will be needed.