Evaluation of an Outpatient Modified Prescription Form

December 14, 2011 updated by: Amanda Kennedy, University of Vermont

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

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.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Medication Errors

Intervention / Treatment

Device: prescription form

Detailed Description

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.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Phase

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 Locations

United States
- Vermont
  - Burlington, Vermont, United States, 05401
    - University of Vermont, Division of General Internal Medicine

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

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

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

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: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
error rates of standard versus modified prescriptions per prescriber Time Frame: 200 prescriptions each	200 prescriptions each

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Vermont

Collaborators

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

Investigators

Principal Investigator: Amanda G Kennedy, PharmD, University of Vermont

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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

August 1, 2005

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2010

Study Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 17, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria