We performed a randomized trial to see if electronic alerts for AKI would improve patient outcomes... the results surprised us
/The full paper is online, but the quick version is that alerts for AKI did not improve clinical outcomes for AKI patients. Not a bit. What's worse, in at least one group of patients, the alerts increased the rate of renal consult and the rate of dialysis. For me, this was a lesson in unintended consequences, and a reminder of why randomized trials are so important.
See the full story at The Lancet: