Pharmacist-managed multistep order transmittal for electronic specialty prescriptions reduces represcribing burden in ambulatory clinics: A retrospective cohort pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Specialty medications pose unique prescribing challenges, including complexities with drug dosing and safety monitoring, need for prior authorization and patient financial assistance, use of payer-mandated specialty pharmacies, and special requirements for storage and handling. These challenges can lead to higher rates of represcribing for specialty clinic providers, who may be operating with inadequate information or limited resources. Multistep order transmittal (MSOT) is an electronic medical record (EMR) prescription work queue functionality used by a specialty pharmacy service to support select ambulatory clinics. OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between an MSOT specialty pharmacy support service and represcribing burden of specialty medications for providers in an ambulatory care setting. METHODS: A retrospective cohort pilot study was performed before and after MSOT implementation. Prescription data were queried from Sanford Health's EMR for patients who were electronically issued at least 1 prescription for an injectable biologic medication at a dermatology and rheumatology clinic. The pre-intervention group included index prescriptions prescribed between October 1, 2017, and June 20, 2018. The post-intervention group included index prescriptions prescribed between October 1, 2018, and June 20, 2019. Retrospective EMR review was completed to identify any prescriptions that were represcribed and the reason for represcribing. The primary outcome was the rate of represcribing. Secondary endpoints explored reason for represcribing, when it occurred. Nominal data were compared using Pearson's chi-square tests. Regressions were performed to account for potential confounders. RESULTS: The pre-intervention group included 880 index biologic prescriptions, and the post-intervention group included 941 index biologic prescriptions. The aggregate represcribing rate decreased from 12.73% in the pre-intervention group to 9.56% in the postintervention group (P = 0.03). Represcribing directly by providers as a result of needing to modify the destination pharmacy decreased significantly from 6.25% of the pre-intervention group to 0.64% of the post-intervention group (P < 0.01). However, represcribing due to patient preferences and prescribing errors increased significantly between the pre- and post-intervention groups, with patient preferences increasing from 0.91% to 2.55% (P = 0.01) and prescribing errors from 0.68% to 1.70% (P = 0.05), respectively. Represcribing due to provider preferences and payer restrictions remained similar between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Within 2 ambulatory care clinics in an integrated health care system, the use of pharmacist-managed MSOT reduced overall represcribing burden. The need to represcribe owing to wrong destination pharmacy was nearly eliminated, while appropriate represcribing to accommodate patient preferences and correct prescribing errors increased. DISCLOSURES: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Primary medication nonadherence to oral oncology specialty medications.

BACKGROUND: Patients prescribed specialty oncology medications face logistical and financial challenges to medication procurement, leading to primary medication nonadherence (PMN). Limited research has evaluated rates and reasons for PMN within a specialty oncology population. Addressing PMN is essential to ensuring patient access and uptake and realizing benefits of these therapies. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to compute the rates of and reasons for PMN in patients prescribed oral oncology medications at an integrated health-system specialty pharmacy (IHSSP). METHODS: We performed a single-center, retrospective analysis of specialty oncology prescriptions electronically prescribed between January and December 2018. Data were extracted from electronic health record (EHR) and pharmacy claims databases. Prescriptions were PMN eligible if none of the following were met: fill of any cancer medication within the previous 180-day lookback window, duplicate prescription, cancellation within 30 days, rerouting to an external pharmacy within 30 days of prescribing, filled through alternate method, or nononcology or hematology condition. PMN was calculated by dividing eligible prescriptions unfilled during the study period by all eligible prescriptions. Reasons for a lack of prescription fulfillment were assessed via EHR review. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: We evaluated 4482 prescriptions from 1422 patients, resulting in 861 PMN-eligible prescriptions. Most PMN-eligible prescriptions (n = 668, 78%) were filled within 30 days, leaving 193 prescriptions as potential instances of PMN. After EHR review, 158 prescriptions met the exclusion criteria, resulting in a PMN rate of 4%. Of PMN prescriptions (n = 35), most were caused by clinical reasons (n = 22, 63%); however, 10 prescriptions were unfilled owing to patient decision, 2 owing to unaffordable treatment, and 1 owing to inability to reach the patient. Patients with PMN had a median age of 72 years and were mostly male (60%), with a median Charlson comorbidity index score of 7. CONCLUSION: Low rates of PMN to prescribed anticancer medications were found among electronic prescriptions intended to be filled at an IHSSP.

Integrating E-Prescribing and Pharmacy Claims Data for Predictive Modeling: Comparing Costs and Utilization of Health Plan Members Who Fill Their Initial Medications with Those Who Do Not.

BACKGROUND: Nonfilling of prescribed medications is a worldwide problem of serious concern. Studies of health care costs and utilization associated with medication nonadherence frequently rely on claims data and usually focus on patients with specific conditions. Past studies also have little agreement on whether higher medication costs associated with higher adherence can reduce downstream health care consumption. OBJECTIVES: To (a) compare the characteristics between people with and without complete medication initiations from a general population and (b) quantify the effect of medication initiation on health care utilization and expenditures with propensity score weighting. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using 2012 and 2013 electronic health records (EHR) and insurance claims data from an integrated health care delivery network. We included 43,097 eligible primary care patients in the study. Annual medication fill rates of initial prescriptions in 2012 were defined as the number of filled prescriptions from claims divided by the number of e-prescriptions from EHRs, while excluding all refills. A claim was considered filled if (a) EHR and claims records were from the same drug class; (b) claims occurred between the date of a current EHR order and that of the next EHR order of the same class; and (c) the maximum fill rate was 100%. The 6 annual outcomes included total costs, medical costs, pharmacy costs, being a high-cost "outlier" (in top 5%), having 1 or more hospitalizations, and having 1 or more emergency department (ED) visits. Individuals were classified as either having completed all medication initiations (100% annual filling rate for initiations) or not. We used propensity score weighting to control for baseline differences between complete and incomplete initial fillers. We adopted linear and logistic regressions to model costs and binary utilization indicators for the same year (concurrently) and next year (prospectively). RESULTS: Approximately 42% of the study sample had complete medication initiations (100% filling rate), while the remaining 58% had incomplete initiations. Individuals who fully filled initial prescriptions had lower comorbidity burden and consumed fewer health care resources. After applying propensity score weighting and controlling for variables such as the number of prescription orders, patients with complete medication initiations had lower overall and medical costs, concurrently and prospectively (e.g., $751 and $252 less for annual total costs). Complete medication initiation fillers were also less likely to have concurrent health care utilization (OR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.68-0.90 for hospitalization; OR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.72-0.82 for ED admissions) but no difference in prospective utilization other than for ED visits (OR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.87-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Identifying the subpopulation of patients with incomplete medication initiations (i.e., filling less than 100% of initial prescriptions) is a pragmatic approach for population health management programs to align resources and potentially contain cost and utilization. DISCLOSURES: No outside funding supported this study. This study applied the Adjusted Clinical Group (ACG) case-mix/risk adjustment methodology, developed at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Although ACGs are an important aspect of this study, the goal of the study was not to directly assess or evaluate the methodology. The Johns Hopkins University receives royalties for nonacademic use of software based on the ACG methodology. Chang, Kharrazi, and Weiner receive a portion of their salary support from this revenue. Chang is also a part-time consultant for Monument Analytics, a health care consultancy whose clients include the life sciences industry, as well as plaintiffs in opioid litigation. Alexander is past Chair of FDA's Peripheral and Central Nervous System Advisory Committee; has served as a paid advisor to IQVIA; is a co-founding Principal and equity holder in Monument Analytics; and is a member of OptumRx's National P&T Committee. These arrangements have been reviewed and approved by Johns Hopkins University in accordance with its conflict of interest policies. The other authors have nothing to disclose.

Prescription and over-the-counter medication record integration: A holistic patient-centered approach.

OBJECTIVE: Nonprescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medications play a crucial role in a patient's ability to make choices to manage his or her own health care. Often these nonprescription choices are unknown to health care practitioners and thus are often not included as part of patients' health records. The exclusion of these therapies can pose risks to patient safety. There is a significant need to address the capture of OTC medication use in both the physician and pharmacy electronic health records (EHRs) and during the practitioner-patient medication history and reconciliation process. DATA SOURCES: On October 26, 2016, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation hosted a forum for a select group of health care industry professionals to work on a series of recommendations to improve the documentation of OTC medication use by patients. This diverse group of more than a dozen stakeholders included community pharmacy leaders from multiple chain pharmacies, pharmacy system vendors, e-prescribing vendors, health information technology experts, and multiple industry representatives, including individuals from the public sector. This commentary is a summary of the insights and suggestions where the group was in general agreement. SUMMARY: Successful OTC medication EHR integration will require system-level buy-in across multiple layers of the health care industry to improve patient safety. Forum participants suggested incremental steps that could be taken by multiple stakeholders to lay the foundation for integration within an appropriate regulatory structure. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of the stakeholder forum, an agreement formed around one approach that the group supported as feasible: the creation of a consistent and uniform identification method for OTC medications in cooperation with government regulatory authorities.

Problemas relacionados a medicamentos em idosos usuários de psicotrópicos: revisão integrativa de literatura / Problems related to drugs in elderly users of psychotropic drugs: an integrative literature review / Problemas relacionados a medicamentos en ancianos usuarios de psicotrópicos: revisión integrativa de literatura

Revisão integrativa da literatura realizada na Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS), buscou identificar os principais problemas relacionados ao uso de psicotrópicos em idosos e propor soluções. Os principais problemas identificados foram reações adversas, risco de quedas e interações medicamentosas. Foram sugeridas três propostas para a redução de suas ocorrências: a adoção de um programa de prescrição eletrônica, a adoção de medidas educativas e/ou realização de acompanhamento farmacoterapêutico com estes pacientes.

An integrative review of the literature carried out in the "Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde" (BVS), sought to identify the main problems related to the use of psychotropic drugs in the elderly and propose solutions. The main problems identified were adverse reactions, risk of falls and drug interactions. Three proposals were suggested to reduce their occurrences: the adoption of an electronic prescription program, the adoption of educational measures and / or pharmacotherapeutic follow-up with these patients.

Revisión integrativa de la literatura realizada en la "Biblioteca virtual em saúde" (BVS,) buscó identificar los principales problemas relacionados al uso de psicotrópicos en ancianos y proponer soluciones. Los principales problemas identificados fueron reacciones adversas, riesgo de caídas e interacciones medicamentosas. Se sugirieron tres propuestas para la reducción de sus ocurrencias: la adopción de un programa de prescripción electrónica, adopción de medidas educativas y / o realización de seguimiento farmacoterapéutico con estos pacientes.

Five key recommendations for the implementation of Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration systems in Scotland.

NHS Scotland is about to embark on the implementation of Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (HEPMA) systems. There are a number of risks associated with such ventures, thus drawing on existing experiences from other settings is crucial in informing deployment.Drawing on our previous and ongoing work in English settings as well as the international literature, we reflect on key lessons that NHS Scotland may wish to consider in going forward. These deliberations include recommendations surrounding key aspects of deployment strategy surrounding: 1) the way central coordination should be conceptualised, 2) how flexibility in can be ensured, 3) paying attention to optimising systems from the outset, 4) how expertise should be developed and centrally shared, and 5) ways in which learning from experience can be maximised.Our five recommendations will, we hope, provide a starting point for the strategic deliberations of policy makers. Throughout this journey, it is important to view the deployment of HEPMA as part of a wider strategic goal of creating integrated digital infrastructures across Scotland.

Pharmacy and primary care perspectives on e-prescribing in a rural community: A focused ethnography.

BACKGROUND: Electronic prescribing (ERx) is the ability for prescriber to send a digital prescription directly to a pharmacist through a dedicated secure network. A number of federally funded incentives such as the health information technology for economic and clinical health (HITECH) and Meaningful Use standards have led to ERx implementation. ERx is an integral part of primary care practice and today most community pharmacies are enabled to accept e-prescriptions. Little is known about the experience of rural pharmacists, primary care providers and patients regarding e-prescribing. This paper reports on the results of ERx from their perspectives. The findings are a portion of a larger qualitative descriptive study focused on the meaning of Meaningful Use in remote rural communities. One remote rural community in the Pacific Northwest was used for this research endeavor. OBJECTIVES: Explore understandings of e-prescribing from both pharmacist and primary care provider perspective. Explore patients' understandings and experiences of e-prescribing. METHODS: The conceptual model for this research was the Ecological Transactional Model. This model informed the research design, interview questions and analysis. A qualitative descriptive methodology - focused ethnography was used for this study. Six key informant interviews, 14 patient interviews and 15 hours of participant observation provided the data. Data analysis occurred collectively between a social pharmacy researcher, a primary care nurse practitioner-researcher and pharmacy graduate students. The research qualitatively identified contextual understandings and dimensions of ERx in this setting. RESULTS: Based on a focused ethnographic methodology, contextual understandings of rurality and role identity, both pharmacist and primary care provider, were explored. Perspectives on ERx of patients, clinic manager and RN staff were also elicited. Three dimensions of ERx were identified - technological, structural and communication. DISCUSSION: The structural, technological and communication dimensions are essential in understanding e-prescribing across settings and addressing digital divides in our health care system. Implications for interprofessional pharmacy education were addressed. Understanding the rural context and the need for role adaptability has implications for health care policy. Additional research is needed on the role of the rural pharmacist and how best to interact with primary care providers and patients.

Relevance of dosage in adherence to treatment with long-acting anticholinergics in patients with COPD.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to assess the degree of adherence for two standard regimens for administrating anticholinergic drugs (12 and 24 hours) in patients with chronic obstruction of the airflow and to establish whether the use of a once-daily dose improves the level of treatment adherence. METHODS: We used long-acting anticholinergics (LAMAs) as a study variable, and included the entire health area of Castile-La Mancha, numbering 2,100,998 inhabitants, as the study population. We analyzed a total of 16,446 patients who had been prescribed a LAMA between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013. The follow-up period, based on a centralized system of electronic prescription management, was extended until December 2014. RESULTS: During 2013, the medication collected was 7.4%-10.7% higher than indicated by labeling. This was very similar for all LAMAs, irrespective of the patient's sex, the molecule, the device, and the drug dosage. We did not observe seasonal variations in the consumption of LAMAs, nor did we detect differences between prescription drugs for once-daily (every 24 hours) versus twice-daily (every 12 hours) administration, between the different molecules, or between different types of inhalers for the same molecule. The results were similar in 2014. CONCLUSION: The principal conclusion of this study is that, in an area with a centralized management system of pharmacological prescriptions, adherence to treatment with LAMAs is very high, irrespective of the molecules or inhalation device. We did not find that patients who used twice-daily medication had a lower adherence.

Using an Electronic Medication Refill System to Improve Provider Productivity in an Accountable Care Setting.

BACKGROUND: Even within fully integrated health care systems, primary care providers (PCPs) often lack support for medication management. Because challenges with conducting medication reconciliation, improving adherence, and achieving optimal patient outcomes continue to be prevalent nationally, it is critical that PCPs are provided the resources and support they need to provide high-quality, patient-centered care in an accountable care environment. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group uses a fully electronic medication refill system that allows for a centralized team to manage all incoming requests. Over time, 16 disease-specific protocols were created that allowed the pharmacy team to absorb approximately 80% of incoming refill requests for all enrolled PCPs. The refill clinic assessed all clinic information that a PCP would normally review in order to approve a refill. Tasks performed by the clinical pharmacists included medication reconciliation, dosage adjustment, and coordination of distribution from external mail order and retail pharmacies. OBSERVATIONS: In 2014, the number of tasks related to refill management reviewed by the refill/medication therapy management service totaled 302,592, resulting in 140,350 refill authorizations and multiple interventions related to medication use. Physicians have estimated that the service provides between 20 and 30 minutes of time savings per day. Assuming an annual PCP salary of around $200,000, 20 to 30 minutes per day would amount to $33 to $50 saved per day per physician. The savings is even higher when time savings from other clinical staff is included. IMPLICATIONS: The development of this electronic medication refill service has provided the following important lessons: (a) organizations rely on a leader or champion to push through process reforms--this program started with reluctant physicians first to determine best practices; (b) the lack of clinical pharmacist profiles within electronic health records (EHR) is a serious concern, since the creation of these profiles may not be easy or timely; and (c) PCPs working within an EHR environment will quickly embrace the idea of a service that can save them up to 30 minutes per day. With PCPs continuing to take on additional population health management tasks in accountable care organizations, pharmacists can provide workload offsets by meaningfully contributing to medication-related care.

[Efficiency of a pharmaceutical care program for long-acting parenteral antipsychotics in the health area of Santiago de Compostela]. / Eficiencia del programa de seguimiento farmacoterapéutico de antipsicóticos parenterales de acción prolongada en el área sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela.

In the healthcare area of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), the therapeutic subgroup "other antipsychotics" represented the fifth largest outpatient expenditure in 2013. More than half of this expenditure corresponded to long-acting parenteral forms of paliperidone and risperidone. Over a 12-month period, the implementation of a pharmaceutical care program based on process management and coordination of actions between health professionals in both levels of care represented savings of € 636,391.01 for the organization and a direct saving of € 16,767.36 and 9,008 trips to the pharmacy for patients. This study shows the efficiency of the program, which was facilitated by its situation in an area of integrated management and the use the unified medical records and electronic prescription, elements that will enable the future implementation of similar programmes. The new registries and healthcare interventions will allow reliable evaluation of their effectiveness in terms of treatment adherence, relapses and hospitalisations.

Incidence and cost of medications dispensed despite electronic medical record discontinuation.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence and cost of medications dispensed despite discontinuation (MDDD) of the medications in the electronic medical record within an integrated health care organization. SETTING: Dean Health System, with medical clinics and pharmacies linked by an electronic medical record, and a shared health plan and pharmacy benefits management company. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: Pharmacist-led quality improvement project using retrospective chart review. PRACTICE INNOVATION: Electronic medical records, pharmacy records, and prescription claims data from patients 18 years of age or older who had a prescription filled for a chronic condition from June 2012 to August 2013 and submitted a claim through the Dean Health Plan were aggregated and cross-referenced to identify MDDD. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Descriptive statistics were used to characterize demographics and MDDD incidence. Fisher's exact test and independent samples t tests were used to compare MDDD and non-MDDD groups. Wholesale acquisition cost was applied to each MDDD event. RESULTS: 7,406 patients met inclusion criteria. For 223 (3%) patients with MDDD, 253 independent events were identified. In terms of frequency per category, antihypertensive agents topped the list, followed, in descending order, by anticonvulsants, antilipemics, antidiabetics, and anticoagulants. Nine medications accounted for 59% (150 of 253) of all MDDD events; these included (again in descending order): gabapentin, atorvastatin, simvastatin, hydrochlorothiazide, lisinopril, warfarin, furosemide, metformin, and metoprolol. Mail-service pharmacies accounted for the highest incidence (5.3%) of MDDD, followed by mass merchandisers (4.6%) and small chains (3.9%). The total cost attributable to MDDD was $9,397.74. CONCLUSION: Development of a technology-based intervention to decrease the incidence of MDDD may be warranted to improve patient safety and decrease health care costs.

Improved vitamin D supplementation in hospitalized breastfed infants through electronic order modification and targeted provider education.

OBJECTIVE: To examine effectiveness of an intervention promoting vitamin D supplementation in hospitalized breastfed infants. METHODS: Our urban tertiary care hospital instituted a 2-part intervention: brief education for providers on vitamin D guidelines and insertion of an opt-in order for vitamin D supplements into electronic admission order sets. Data downloads on admissions of patients aged <1 year were obtained. We excluded those not breastfed, with a dietary restriction, or admitted to intensive care. Intervention effects were compared from 6 months postintervention to the 6 same months 1 year earlier. We applied χ2 and logistic regression, including the patient as a random effect to adjust for repeated admissions. RESULTS: Data on 471 exclusively or partially breastfed admissions (441 infants) were analyzed (221 preintervention, 250 postintervention). Admission characteristics did not differ by period: 55.0% boys; 40.6% Medicaid; 63.7% hospitalized ≤2 days; 72.0% on a general medical service; 16.6% received nutritionist consultation. In-hospital vitamin D prescribing rates significantly increased postintervention (19.5% vs 44.4%; P<.001). Postintervention admissions were more than twice as likely to receive vitamin D supplementation (adjusted odds ratio 2.3, 95% confidence interval 1.6-3.2). Other associated factors included vitamin D as a medication used before admission (adjusted odds ratio 14.3, 95% confidence interval 4.9-41.6), nutritionist consultation during admission, hospitalization≥3 days, and admission to a general medical service. Prescribing of vitamin D at discharge increased significantly (9.0% vs 19.6%; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Medical provider education and modification of electronic ordering templates significantly increased use of vitamin D supplementation in hospitalized breastfed infants.

Impacto da informatização intra-hospitalar sobre a gestão de custos: Integração da prescrição eletrônica das fórmulas pediátricas e das dietas enterais com suas respectivas áreas de produção / Impact of intrahospital informatization on cost management: Integration of electronic prescription of pediatric formulas and enteral diets with their respective production areas

Introduction: Informatization contributes to the integration among various sectors, cost reduction, and improved quality of services. This study aimed to assess the impact on cost/benefit of the integration of electronic prescription of pediatric formulas and enteral diets in the respective production areas in a hospital. Methods: We analyzed the quantitative consumption and financial cost of the products corresponding to 80% of the budget ceiling for the annual programming of each modality during 2 consecutive months in two steps, i.e., before and after the implementation of the new module. Results: A more effective control of the quantities produced and of the final products dispensed was observed, reducing both the traceable and untraceable demands (an 85% reduction in financial terms from R$ 3770.25/months before to R$ 566.73/month after). Conclusion: The change represented a technological innovation that improved the quality of the service provided and contributed to waste reduction.

Introducción: La informatización contribuye para la integración entre distintos sectores, la reducción de costes y la mejora de la calidad de los servicios. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar el impacto sobre los costes y beneficios que ofrece la integración de la receta electrónica de formulaciones pediátricas y la alimentación enteral con sus respectivas zonas de producción de un hospital. Métodos: Se analizaron el consumo cuantitativo y financiero de los productos correspondientes al 80% del límite máximo del presupuesto de la programación anual de cada modalidad durante 2 meses consecutivos en dos etapas, antes y después de la implementación del nuevo módulo. Resultados: Hubo un control más efectivo de las cantidades producidas, dio a conocer los productos finales, reduciendo las demandas tanto trazables y no rastreables (reducción de 85% en términos financieros, de R$ 3770,25 / mes por adelantado y R$ 566,73 / mes más tarde). Conclusión: El cambio representó una innovación tecnológica que proporciona una mejor calidad de servicio y ha contribuido a la reducción de residuos.

National Health Models and the Adoption of E-Health and E-Prescribing in Primary Care - New Evidence from Europe.

OBJECTIVE: Recent research from the European Commission (EC) suggests that the development and adoption of eHealth in primary care is significantly influenced by the context of the national health model in operation. This research identified three national health models in Europe at this time - the National Health Service (NHS) model, the social insurance system (SIS) model and the transition country (TC) model, and found a strong correlation between the NHS model and high adoption rates for eHealth. The objective of this study is to establish if there is a similar correlation in one specific application area - electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) in primary care. METHODS: A review of published literature from 2000 to 2014 was undertaken covering the relevant official publications of the European Union and national government as well as the academic literature. An analysis of the development and adoption of ePrescribing in Europe was extracted from these data. RESULTS: The adoption of ePrescribing in primary care has increased significantly in recent years and is now practised by approximately 32% of European general practitioners. National ePrescribing services are now firmly established in 11 countries, with pilot projects underway in most others. The highest adoption rates are in countries with the NHS model, concentrated in the Nordic area. The electronic transmission of prescriptions continues to pose a significant challenge, especially in SIS countries and TCs. CONCLUSIONS: There is a strong correlation between the NHS model and high adoption rates for ePrescribing similar to the EC findings on the adoption of eHealth. It may be some time before many SIS countries and TCs reach the same adoption levels for ePrescribing and eHealth in primary care as most NHS countries.

Effectiveness of a clinical decision support system for reducing the risk of QT interval prolongation in hospitalized patients.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the effectiveness of a computer clinical decision support system (CDSS) for reducing the risk of QT interval prolongation in hospitalized patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated 2400 patients admitted to cardiac care units at an urban academic medical center. A CDSS incorporating a validated risk score for QTc prolongation was developed and implemented using information extracted from patients' electronic medical records. When a drug associated with torsades de pointes was prescribed to a patient at moderate or high risk for QTc interval prolongation, a computer alert appeared on the screen to the pharmacist entering the order, who could then consult the prescriber on alternative therapies and implement more intensive monitoring. QTc interval prolongation was defined as QTc interval >500 ms or increase in QTc of ≥60 ms from baseline; for patients who presented with QTc >500 ms, QTc prolongation was defined solely as increase in QTc ≥60 ms from baseline. End points were assessed before (n=1200) and after (n=1200) implementation of the CDSS. CDSS implementation was independently associated with a reduced risk of QTc prolongation (adjusted odds ratio, 0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.56-0.89; P<0.0001). Furthermore, CDSS implementation reduced the prescribing of noncardiac medications known to cause torsades de pointes, including fluoroquinolones and intravenous haloperidol (adjusted odds ratio, 0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.63-0.91; P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: A computer CDSS incorporating a validated risk score for QTc prolongation influences the prescribing of QT-prolonging drugs and reduces the risk of QTc interval prolongation in hospitalized patients with torsades de pointes risk factors.

[Medication Reconciliation-theory and practice]. / Medication Reconciliation - Theorie und Praxis.

The World Health Organization initiated the project "High5s - Action on Patient Safety". The aim of the High5s project is to achieve a measurable, significant and sustained reduction in the occurrence of five serious patient safety problems within five years, in five countries. One of these patient safety issues is medication reconciliation - the process of assuring medication accuracy at transitions of care. In Germany, eleven hospitals are currently implementing medication reconciliation. Medication reconciliation represents the systematic comparison of the current patient's medication list with the medication list in hospital. For this purpose, Lead Technical Agencies of each participating country translated and adapted the standard operating procedure. This standard operating procedure describes the implementation and the procedure of the medication reconciliation process in detail. This process is divided into three parts. First, the best possible medication history is recorded. Second, based on those records, the responsible physician subsequently prescribes the medication. In the third step, the best possible medication history is compared with the medication orders at admission. During this process, it is likely that some discrepancies will occur. Such discrepancies are discussed with the responsible physician and clarified. A comprehensive acquisition of the best possible medication history is thus particularly important. It will be part of medical records throughout the patients' hospital stay. Thus it will be used as an additional source for comparison and adjustment of patients' medication in order to facilitate optimal drug treatment during the entire hospital stay. The practical implementation of medication reconciliation requires extensive change of the current prescription sheets or prescription software. Thus, this provides a great challenge for many hospitals. Nevertheless, in the Netherlands it has been shown that it is possible to prevent 90 % of unintentional discrepancies with medication reconciliation. A German hospital recently showed a reduction of discrepancies by about 77 %. The use of medication reconciliation to improve clinical endpoints is currently subject of further studies.

[Good prescription practice for out-patients-quality requirements of prescriptions in Germany]. / Gute Verordnungspraxis im ambulanten Sektor - Qualitätsanforderungen an die Rezeptschreibung in Deutschland.

Because the written prescription is a central communication medium between the prescribing physician and the dispensing pharmacist measures to improve the prescription quality are top priorities. While most primary care physicians in Germany use electronic systems, in outpatient clinics and nursing homes and on special occasions such as emergency services and home visits, many prescriptions are still handwritten. Incorrectly and illegibly issued prescriptions impair the physician-pharmacist-patient relationship and thus represent a risk factor in the context of medication safety. Well issued prescriptions expedite the dispensing and thus the continuity of treatment of the patients and spare human resources by avoiding queries and unnecessary steps in the care process. At the same time, legible and unequivocal prescriptions facilitate measures for quality assurance by the dispensing pharmacists and are essential preconditions needed for insurance reimbursement. Probably the most important step to high quality prescriptions is the consistent use of suitable electronic prescription software. This is only possible if physicians are willing to cooperate and understand the significance and benefits of an electronic prescription system.

Supervised analysis of drug prescription sequences.

Hospitals have at their disposal large databases that may be considered for reuse. The objective of this work is to evaluate the impact of a drug on a specific laboratory result by analyzing these data. This analysis first involves building a record of temporal patterns, including medical context, of drug prescriptions. Changes in outcome due to these patterns of drug prescription are assessed using short phases of the inpatient stay compared to monotonous changes in the laboratory result. To illustrate this technique, we investigated potassium chloride supplementation and its impact on kalemia. This method enables us to assess the impact of a drug (in its frequent context of prescription) on a laboratory result. This kind of analysis could play a role in post-marketing studies.

Use of a computerized order set to increase prescription of calcium and vitamin D supplementation in patients receiving glucocorticoids.

BACKGROUND: American College of Rheumatology guidelines recommend that patients taking glucocorticoids also take calcium and vitamin D supplements, regardless of the dose or intended duration of glucocorticoid use, to decrease their risk of glucocorticoid-induced osteopenia or osteoporosis (GIOP). OBJECTIVE: To increase the number of prescriptions made for calcium and vitamin D in patients who receive a prescription for glucocorticoids using an automated, computerized order set. DESIGN: Pre-post test design. PATIENTS: A total of 1,041 outpatients receiving care at a single VA medical center. INTERVENTION/MAIN MEASURES: We developed an automated order set in which calcium and vitamin D were automatically co-ordered with glucocorticoid prescriptions of at least 2-week duration. We tested the impact of the order set by comparing the number of calcium and vitamin D prescriptions in patients taking glucocorticoids during a 12-month period before (T1) and after (T2) implementation. The automated order set could be modified by the treating physician, and it was not generated for patients with hypercalcemia. KEY RESULTS: A total of 535 patients during T1 and 506 patients during T2 had a glucocorticoid prescription of at least 2-week duration. The percent of co-prescriptions for calcium increased from 37 to 49% and vitamin D from 38 to 53% (both p < 0.0001) after the new automated order set was implemented. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of an automatic prescription for calcium and vitamin D supplementation modestly increases the number of patients on glucocorticoids who are prescribed calcium and vitamin D supplementation.