CURATA: A patient health management program for the treatment of osteoarthritis in Québec: an integrated approach to improving the appropriate utilization of anti-inflammatory/analgesic medications.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To identify gaps in current osteoarthritis (OA) care in Quebec, Canada, and to implement and evaluate interventions to promote appropriate use of evidence-based medicine. STUDY DESIGN: Pretest and posttest; analysis of the Quebec health insurance database. METHODS: CURATA is a patient health management program utilizing an evidence-based approach for OA treatment. Evaluation of the current level of care revealed major gaps in physicians' knowledge of (1) risk factors for gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs); (2) NSAID-induced toxicity associated with long-term administration and contraindications for NSAID use in patients with hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or renal insufficiency; (3) choice of cytoprotection; and (4) use of nonpharmacologic treatments for OA. The CURATA intervention consisted of educational workshops, with and without presentation of a decision tree regarding appropriate use of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic OA treatments. Participating physicians were asked to complete an 8-item questionnaire before and after the workshop, as well as 3 and 6 months later, to test their immediate and remote knowledge of treatment choices. The prescribing patterns of GPs also were evaluated through analysis of the Quebec health insurance database. RESULTS: The participating physicians were better immediate and remote risk assessors of GI bleeding and made more appropriate treatment choices (15.2% improvement relative to mean preworkshop score). CONCLUSION: These evidence-based interventions were successful not only in improving the physicians' knowledge regarding the diagnosis and management of OA, but also--more importantly--in changing their behavior to make more appropriate therapy choices for their patients.