Clinical trial NCT02059044: Information Systems-enabled Outreach Program for Adverse Drug Events
Official title: Information Systems-enabled Outreach Program for Adverse Drug Events
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Adverse Drug Events
Keywords: patient safety
pharmacoepidemiology
health services research
adherence
information technology
Lead sponsor: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
name: McGill University
First posted: 2014-02-11
Enrollment: 614
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: One of the most common health care interventions in any healthcare setting is a medication prescription. Unfortunately, up to 25% of outpatient prescriptions are associated with adverse drug events (ADEs). ADEs decrease patient health directly and can lead to non-adherence, which in turn has negative consequences.

The investigators recently conducted a pilot project in which the feasibility and potential utility of an information technology enabled outreach program for monitoring patients receiving an outpatient prescription was tested. This intervention involved the use of an interactive voice response system programmed to automatically call ambulatory care patients following a prescription. If the system identified a potential medication problem, a pharmacist was notified who contacted the patient, modified the therapy accordingly, and informed a physician when necessary.

The pilot project included 568 patients with diverse illnesses in two Canadian cities. High levels of patient and provider acceptability of the system were determined from 21 day interviews. The program identified 56 of 125 (45%) ADEs and 10 of 26 (30%) of primary non-compliance events. Very few episodes of ameliorable ADEs were observed.

The investigators feel these results justify a randomized control trial to assess the effectiveness of the intervention for improving patient centered outcomes. Ambulatory care patients receiving incident prescriptions for one of four conditions (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, depression, and anxiety) will be randomized to the intervention or routine care. The investigators expect that the system will reduce the severity and duration of outpatient ADEs and improve adherence to medication care.

Detailed description: One of the most common health care interventions in any healthcare setting is a medication prescription. On an individual and population level, outpatient medication use has the potential to improve health. Unfortunately, up to 25% of outpatient prescriptions are associated with adverse drug events (ADEs). ADEs decrease patient health directly and can lead to non-adherence, which in turn has negative consequences.

The investigators recently conducted a pilot project in which the feasibility and potential utility of an information technology enabled outreach program for monitoring patients receiving an outpatient prescription was tested. This intervention involved the use of an interactive voice response system programmed to automatically call ambulatory care patients following a prescription. If the system identified a potential medication problem, a pharmacist was notified who subsequently contacted the patient, modified the therapy accordingly, and informed a physician when necessary.

The pilot project included 568 patients with diverse illnesses in two Canadian cities (Montreal and Quebec City). The system successfully contacted 477 patients (84%). High levels of patient and provider acceptability of the system were determined from 21 day interviews. The program identified 56 of 125 (45%) ADEs and 10 of 26 (30%) of primary non compliance events. Very few episodes of ameliorable ADEs were observed in which the ADE severity could have been diminished with more appropriate management.

The investigators feel these results justify a randomized control trial to assess the effectiveness of our intervention for improving patient-centered outcomes. To determine whether the system reduces the severity and duration of outpatient ADEs and improves adherence to medication care at three and 12 months, ambulatory care patients receiving incident prescriptions for one of four conditions (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, depression, and anxiety) will be randomized to the intervention or routine care. As an exploratory analysis, the impact of the intervention on patient self efficacy and health services use will also be examined.

This study will help to define whether this promising intervention can improve patient health from both the individual patient and population health perspective. There is a wide scope of potential applications for this approach. This study will provide important information to guide these future applications beyond the specific question asked in this protocol.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* spoken language is French or English
* physician is a user of MOXXI (electronic health record system) and patient has consented to be captured by MOXXI
* receiving a high-risk incident prescription
* medication insurance through Regie de l'Assurances Maladie du Quebec (RAMQ) insurance program

Exclusion Criteria:

* patient not appropriate for inclusion (as determined by prescribing physician)

Primary outcomes:
measure: Failure to persist with medication regimen
timeFrame: 6 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Proportion of patients experiencing an ADE
timeFrame: within 30 days of prescription
measure: Duration of symptoms attributable to the ADE from start to resolution
timeFrame: within 21 days following prescription
measure: ADE resulting in an Emergency Department (ED) or inpatient encounter
timeFrame: within 21 days following prescription
measure: ADE severity
timeFrame: within 30 days of prescription
measure: Proportion of patients experiencing an ameliorable ADE
timeFrame: within 30 days of prescription
measure: Healthcare utilization (number of visits to MDs, EDs, days in hospital, and medication claims)
timeFrame: 1 year
Other outcomes:
measure: Cost of intervention for each patient
timeFrame: 21 days following prescription (average)
Locations:
city: Montreal
country: Canada
facility: McGill University
state: Quebec
Study officials:
affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
name: Alan J Forster, MD FRCPC MSc
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Oake N, Jennings A, van Walraven C, Forster AJ. Interactive voice response systems for improving delivery of ambulatory care. Am J Manag Care. 2009 Jun;15(6):383-91.
citation: Forster AJ, Boyle L, Shojania KG, Feasby TE, van Walraven C. Identifying patients with post-discharge care problems using an interactive voice response system. J Gen Intern Med. 2009 Apr;24(4):520-5. doi: 10.1007/s11606-009-0910-3. Epub 2009 Jan 21.
citation: Forster AJ, LaBranche R, McKim R, Faught JW, Feasby TE, Janes-Kelley S, Shojania KG, van Walraven C. Automated patient assessments after outpatient surgery using an interactive voice response system. Am J Manag Care. 2008 Jul;14(7):429-36.
citation: Forster AJ, van Walraven C. Using an interactive voice response system to improve patient safety following hospital discharge. J Eval Clin Pract. 2007 Jun;13(3):346-51. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2006.00702.x.
citation: Oake N, van Walraven C, Rodger MA, Forster AJ. Effect of an interactive voice response system on oral anticoagulant management. CMAJ. 2009 Apr 28;180(9):927-33. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.081659.
citation: Auger C, Forster AJ, Oake N, Tamblyn R. Usability of a computerised drug monitoring programme to detect adverse drug events and non-compliance in outpatient ambulatory care. BMJ Qual Saf. 2013 Apr;22(4):306-16. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2012-001492. Epub 2013 Feb 8.
citation: Forster AJ, Auger C; ISTOP ADE Investigators. Using information technology to improve the monitoring of outpatient prescribing. JAMA Intern Med. 2013 Mar 11;173(5):382-4. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.2002. No abstract available.
citation: Forster AJ, Erlanger TE, Jennings A, Auger C, Buckeridge D, van Walraven C, Tamblyn R. Effectiveness of a computerized drug-monitoring program to detect and prevent adverse drug events and medication non-adherence in outpatient ambulatory care: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2015 Jan 8;16:2. doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-16-2.