Electronic health record interventions at the point of care improve documentation of care processes and decrease orders for genetic tests commonly ordered by nongeneticists.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether electronic health record (EHR) tools improve documentation of pre- and postanalytic care processes for genetic tests ordered by nongeneticists. METHODS: We conducted a nonrandomized, controlled, pre-/postintervention study of EHR point-of-care tools (informational messages and template report) for three genetic tests. Chart review assessed documentation of genetic testing processes of care, with points assigned for each documented item. Multiple linear and logistic regressions assessed factors associated with documentation. RESULTS: Preimplementation, there were no significant site differences (P > 0.05). Postimplementation, mean documentation scores increased (5.9 (2.1) vs. 5.0 (2.2); P = 0.0001) and records with clinically meaningful documentation increased (score >5: 59 vs. 47%; P = 0.02) at the intervention versus the control site. Pre- and postimplementation, a score >5 was positively associated with abnormal test results (OR = 4.0; 95% CI: 1.8-9.2) and trainee provider (OR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.2-4.6). Postimplementation, a score >5 was also positively associated with intervention site (OR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-5.1) and specialty clinic (OR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.1-3.6). There were also significantly fewer tests ordered after implementation (264/100,000 vs. 204/100,000; P = 0.03), with no significant change at the control site (280/100,000 vs. 257/100,000; P = 0.50). CONCLUSIONS: EHR point-of-care tools improved documentation of genetic testing processes and decreased utilization of genetic tests commonly ordered by nongeneticists.Genet Med 19 1, 112-120.

Evaluation of RxNorm in Ambulatory Electronic Prescribing.

Drug prescriptions need to accurately identify the medications that prescribers intend for pharmacists to dispense. However, the set of computer-interpretable identifiers currently used in electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) does not support the specific needs of the prescribers and pharmacists who conduct e-prescribing transactions. RxNorm, a drug nomenclature from the National Library of Medicine, assigns a rigorously derived, centrally maintained, and publicly available unique identifier to each clinically distinct drug. It therefore has the potential to greatly improve drug identification in e-prescribing transactions. Through laboratory research and pilot testing, the authors evaluated RxNorm's potential to improve how medications are represented in e-prescribing transactions. They found that RxNorm is highly complete for prescription drugs used in ambulatory practice that are within its scope and that it offers substantial efficiency and parsimony gains for communicating health plan formulary information to prescribers. The errors that arose during use were of low clinical significance. In live pilot testing, RxNorm identifiers were successfully added to prescription transactions sent between participating prescribers and pharmacies, and the pharmacies were able to use this information to check for dispensing errors or to disambiguate prescriptions. The authors found that RxNorm appears to provide drug identifiers that more accurately reflect the prescriber's intent than the drug identifier set currently used.

Reliability of a store observation tool in measuring availability of alcohol and selected foods.

Alcohol and food items can compromise or contribute to health, depending on the quantity and frequency with which they are consumed. How much people consume may be influenced by product availability and promotion in local retail stores. We developed and tested an observational tool to objectively measure in-store availability and promotion of alcoholic beverages and selected food items that have an impact on health. Trained observers visited 51 alcohol outlets in Los Angeles and southeastern Louisiana. Using a standardized instrument, two independent observations were conducted documenting the type of outlet, the availability and shelf space for alcoholic beverages and selected food items, the purchase price of standard brands, the placement of beer and malt liquor, and the amount of in-store alcohol advertising. Reliability of the instrument was excellent for measures of item availability, shelf space, and placement of malt liquor. Reliability was lower for alcohol advertising, beer placement, and items that measured the "least price" of apples and oranges. The average kappa was 0.87 for categorical items and the average intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.83 for continuous items. Overall, systematic observation of the availability and promotion of alcoholic beverages and food items was feasible, acceptable, and reliable. Measurement tools such as the one we evaluated should be useful in studies of the impact of availability of food and beverages on consumption and on health outcomes.