Comparative effectiveness of generic commercial versus locally customized clinical decision support tools to reduce prescription of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for patients with heart failure.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of 2 clinical decision support (CDS) tools to avoid prescription of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients with heart failure (HF): a "commercial" and a locally "customized" alert. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 2 CDS tools implemented within a large integrated health system. The commercial CDS tool was designed according to third-party drug content and EHR vendor specifications. The customized CDS tool underwent a user-centered design process informed by implementation science principles, with input from a cross disciplinary team. The customized CDS tool replaced the commercial CDS tool. Data were collected from the electronic health record via analytic reports and manual chart review. The primary outcome was effectiveness, defined as whether the clinician changed their behavior and did not prescribe an NSAID. RESULTS: A random sample of 366 alerts (183 per CDS tool) was evaluated that represented 355 unique patients. The commercial CDS tool was effective for 7 of 172 (4%) patients, while the customized CDS tool was effective for 81 of 183 (44%) patients. After adjusting for age, chronic kidney disease, ejection fraction, NYHA class, concurrent prescription of an opioid or acetaminophen, visit type (inpatient or outpatient), and clinician specialty, the customized alerts were at 24.3 times greater odds of effectiveness compared to the commercial alerts (OR: 24.3 CI: 10.20-58.06). CONCLUSION: Investing additional resources to customize a CDS tool resulted in a CDS tool that was more effective at reducing the total number of NSAID orders placed for patients with HF compared to a commercially available CDS tool.

Identifying opportunities for pediatric medication therapy management in children with medical complexity.

BACKGROUND: Despite potential benefits of medication therapy management (MTM) for complex pediatric patients, implementation of pediatric MTM services is rare. OBJECTIVES: To describe how a standardized pediatric MTM model identifies potential interventions and their impact on medication regimen complexity index (MRCI) scores in children with medical complexity (CMC) and polypharmacy. METHODS: This retrospective proof-of-concept study included pediatric patients receiving primary care in a large outpatient primary care medical home for CMC within a tertiary freestanding children's hospital from August 2020 to July 2021. Medication profiles of established patients aged 0-18 years with at least 5 active medications at the time of the index visit were assessed for medication-related concerns, potential interventions, and potential impact of proposed interventions on MRCI scores. RESULTS: Among 100 patients, an average of 3.4 ± 2.6 medication-related concerns was identified using the pediatric MTM model. Common medication-related concerns (>25% of patients) included inappropriate or unnecessary therapy, suboptimal therapy, undertreated symptom, adverse effect, clinically impactful drug-drug interaction, or duplication of therapy. A total of 97% had opportunities for 5.0 ± 2.9 potential interventions. Most common proposed interventions included drug discontinuation trial (69%), patient or caregiver education (55%), dosage form modification (51%), dose modification (49%), and frequency modification (46%). The mean baseline MRCI score was 32.6 (95% CI 29.3-35.8) among all patients. MRCI scores decreased by a mean of 4.9 (95% CI 3.8-5.9) after application of the theoretical interventions (P < 0.001). Mean potential score reduction was not significantly affected by patient age or number of complex chronic conditions. Potential impact of the proposed interventions on MRCI score was significantly greater in patients with higher baseline medication counts (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Most CMC would likely benefit from a pharmacist-guided pediatric MTM service. A standardized review of active medication regimens identified multiple medication-related concerns and potential interventions for nearly all patients. Proposed medication interventions would significantly reduce medication regimen complexity as measured by MRCI. Further prospective evaluation of a pharmacist-guided pediatric MTM service is warranted.