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Table 3 Summary of main themes emerging from the focus group dataset

From: A web-based clinical decision tool to support treatment decision-making in psychiatry: a pilot focus group study with clinicians, patients and carers

Themes

Applications in clinical practice

Communication

Conflicting priorities

Record keeping and data management

Key points raised

• Clinical applications in psychiatry and other chronic conditions

• Supports standardized decision making for prescribing

• Reminder to consider all treatment options

• Prompts discussion between clinicians and patients

• Boosts prescribing confidence

• Useful learning tool

• Promotes informed choice

• Enhances, but not replacement for, clinical judgment

• Does not reflect clinical assessment process

• Promotes discussion about medication side-effects

• May cause information overload

• Facilitates informed consent

• Treatment choice of patient and clinician may be at odds

• May optimise capacity, by teasing out views

• Level of collaboration may vary

• Terminology too “medicalised”

• Improved presentation will facilitate discussion

• Promotes collaboration but may cause uncertainty in decision-making

• May increase compliance

• Patient’s healthcare priorities need identifying to ensure clinicians consider them

• Promotes personalised care; but tool too disease-focused.

• Potential conflict if patients feel they are being denied recommended treatments; only available medications should be used in CDST

• Full range of CDST recommendations could be used to challenge clinical commissioners

• Good record of consultation

• Potential to link CDST to patient records

• Continually updated evidence-base

• Outcomes presented are understandable

• Concerns about data reliability

• Easy to use

• Time saving: hard to use within 10 min consultation, but pays off long term