Evaluation of an Outpatient Modified Prescription Form

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to determine if a modified paper prescribing form decreases prescribing errors compared to a traditional or standard paper prescribing form.

Detailed Description
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The broad goal of this proposal is to reduce outpatient prescribing errors in rural primary care practices. Although computerized technology is available for prescribing, it has not yet been implemented in most settings. Additionally, rural prescribers will likely be the last to have the means to adopt this technology. Due to the substantial morbidity and mortality in the United States caused by outpatient medication errors, there is an urgent need for low-cost solutions. This research plan will evaluate a modified paper prescription form that may be implemented in rural primary care settings cheaply and quickly with the goal of outpatient prescription error reduction. The specific aims of this project are: To determine if a modified paper prescription form decreases overall prescribing errors compared to a standard paper prescription form To determine if a modified paper prescription form decreases omission errors compared to a standard paper prescription form To determine prescriber satisfaction with the modified prescription form Rural prescribers from four states will be randomly recruited to write prescriptions on standard and modified forms. Prescription duplicates of both types will be analyzed for errors. Prescriber satisfaction with the modified form will be evaluated using surveys and focus groups. Medication errors are a public health problem. Low-cost technology that is shown to reduce medication errors would benefit all rural patients who receive prescriptions.

Official Title
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Evaluation of an Outpatient Modified Paper Prescription Form in 4 Rural States to Address the Public Health Problem of Prescribing Error

Conditions
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Medication Errors

Intervention / Treatment
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* Device: prescription form


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Must be a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant with a current license to write outpatient prescriptions Must practice in Family Practice, Internal Medicine, or Pediatrics Must practice in rural Vermont, West Virginia, South Dakota, or Montana Must write outpatient paper prescriptions Must write prescriptions in English Exclusion Criteria: Not licensed to write prescriptions Practice in a specialty, inpatient, or long term care setting Do not write paper prescriptions Do not write prescriptions in English

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 21 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Device: prescription form|Two prescription pads contained modified forms and two prescription pads were similar to the prescription pads the prescriber had been using. Providers completed 100 standard and 100 modified prescriptions|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| error rates of standard versus modified prescriptions per prescriber |  | 200 prescriptions each | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Medical Errors, Medication Errors, Prescriptions, Drug