Table 2.

Expected areas of impact and potential outcomes of DSS

Expected area of impact	Potential outcomes
Integration of care through securely shared digital information across primary, secondary and social care settings	Reduced duplicate data entry. Patient satisfaction/feedback (by not being asked the same questions in a variety of settings, especially those with multiple chronic conditions). Frequency of medication reviews at care transitions. Medicines reconciliation between care settings. Reduction in delayed discharge. Improved data availability.
Adherence to guidelines (DSS specific)	Reducing inappropriate variation of clinical practice. Improved adoption of current evidence in clinical practice.
Patient self-management	Adherence to treatment regimen. Patient access to digital records and illness/wellness information. Reduced travel for patients. Reduced visits to primary care. Improved patient quality of life. Improved patient autonomy/confidence in managing chronic conditions.
Patient engagement and shared decision-making by supporting clinicians to explain choices of treatment and reasons for prescriptions (an effect of discussing choice so that the patient would be more engaged in decisions and would understand why decisions were taken)	Patient access to digital records, consultation information and digital information tailored to their needs. Patient and carer involvement in determining their own needs and health outcomes. Supported self-management for patients. Improved patient confidence and literacy in discussing their care needs with clinicians and in making treatment choices. Increased integration of health and social care. Improved attitude among and training for clinicians towards shared decision-making. Patient satisfaction.
Availability of appropriate information tailored to the needs of patients and clinicians (DSS specific)	Facilitating access to relevant information when it is needed. Facilitating access to up-to-date evidence.
More efficient management of time for clinicians	Less time spent manually searching through guidelines. Shorter length of appointments. Increased patient contact. Shorter length of appointments. Supporting changing roles within the multidisciplinary healthcare team, for example, facilitated delegation of patients with less complex needs to other practice staff (eg, pharmacists, nurse practitioners).

DSS, decision support systems.