Decision Support for Heart Failure Prescribing

May 29, 2026 updated by: University of Colorado, Denver

New Solutions to Support Evidence-based Prescribing for Heart Failure

Clinical decision support (CDS) tools can 'nudge' clinicians to make the best decisions easy. Although required by "meaningful use" regulations, more than 40% of CDS lead to no change and the remaining lead to improvements that are modest at best. This is because CDS tools often ignore contextual factors and present irrelevant information. Although many tools have undergone patient-specific optimization, 'traditional CDS' are rarely clinician-specific. For example, a traditional CDS tool for beta blockers and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) addresses common prescribing misconceptions by stating asthma is not a contraindication and providing a safe threshold for blood pressure. For clinicians without these misconceptions, these statements are irrelevant and distract from key information. A 'personalized CDS' would evaluate clinician past prescribing patterns to determine whether prescribing misconceptions might exist and then conditionally present information to address those misconceptions. The objective of this research is to create personalized clinician-specific CDS that overcome shortcomings of traditional CDS. The central hypothesis is a personalized CDS that minimizes irrelevant information will lead to a higher rate of prescribing guideline-directed management and therapy (GDMT) for HFrEF compared to a traditional CDS.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
764

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Colorado
      • Aurora, Colorado, United States, 80045
        • UCHealth Primary Care and Cardiology Outpatient Clinics

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • The study subjects are potential users of the CDS, specifically clinicians with prescribing privileges who practice at one of the health system's (UCHealth) outpatient cardiology or primary care clinics. Because we are observing their prescribing behaviors, we are also evaluating patient characteristics which could influence their prescribing decisions.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Clinicians who do not practice in cardiology or primary care clinics or do not practice within UCHealth system.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Traditional Clinical Decision Support (CDS)
Clinicians will receive traditional CDS and perform usual care, which is patient-specific but not clinician-specific.
Other: Traditional Clinical Decision Support (CDS)
The traditional CDS is the usual care intervention, which is patient-specific but are not clinician-specific.
Experimental: Personalized Clinical Decision Support (CDS)
Clinicians will receive a personalized CDS intervention that evaluates clinician past prescribing patterns to determine whether prescribing misconceptions might exist, and then conditionally present information to address those misconceptions through a nudge in the EHR.
Other: Personalized Clinical Decision Support (CDS)
The personalized CDS intervention evaluates clinician past prescribing patterns to determine whether prescribing misconceptions might exist and then conditionally present information to address those misconceptions. This is done through a nudge in the electronic health record that addresses common prescribing misconceptions for heart failure.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of CDS alerts resulting in the prescription of a recommended medication
Time Frame: 6 months
The primary outcome is number of CDS alerts that resulted in the prescription of the medication recommended by the CDS alert. Recommended medications include either evidence-based beta blockers, sacubitril/valsartan, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists or sodium/glucose cotransport 2 inhibitors. Prescriptions will be based on actual prescription orders instead of clinician-stated responses, given the latter may overestimate effectiveness.
6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of patients the CDS alerted for
Time Frame: 6 months
This outcome evaluates the reach of the CDS by counting the number of patients that the CDS alerted for.
6 months
Number of alerts that were not outright dismissed
Time Frame: 6 months
This outcome will help investigators understand if the CDS id being used or dismissed.
6 months
Number of prescription orders for guideline directed management and therapies (GDMT) for heart failure
Time Frame: 6 months
This outcome measures the number of prescriptions for each of the four categories of GDMT: evidence-based beta blockers, sacubitril/valsartan, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists or sodium/glucose cotransport 2 inhibitors.
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Colorado, Denver

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Katy E Trinkley, PharmD, PhD, University of Colorado, Denver

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 11, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 1, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
February 6, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 27, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
March 5, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
June 2, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 29, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 22-0991

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Data obtained through this study may be provided to qualified researchers with academic interest in related areas of interest. Data shared will be coded, with no PHI included. Approval of the request and execution of all applicable agreements (e.g., data use/sharing agreements) are prerequisites to the sharing of data with the requesting party. Data requests can be submitted starting 9 months after article publication and the data will be made accessible for up to 24 months. Access to trial IPD can be requested by qualified researchers engaging in independent scientific research, and will be provided following review and approval of a research proposal and Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP) and execution of a Data Sharing Agreement.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Data requests can be submitted starting 9 months after article publication and the data will be made accessible for up to 24 months.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Data obtained through this study may be provided to qualified researchers with academic interest in related areas of interest. Data shared will be coded, with no PHI included. Approval of the request and execution of all applicable agreements (e.g., data use/sharing agreements) are prerequisites to the sharing of data with the requesting party. Access to trial IPD can be requested by qualified researchers engaging in independent scientific research, and will be provided following review and approval of a research proposal and Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP) and execution of a Data Sharing Agreement.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF
  • ANALYTIC_CODE
  • CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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