Randomized Trial to Improve Laboratory Safety Monitoring of Ongoing Drug Therapy in Ambulatory Patients

Study Objective. To determine whether an electronic tool effectively increases the percentage of patients receiving laboratory monitoring during ongoing drug therapy. Design. Randomized trial. Setting. Outpatient medical offices of a group model health maintenance organization. Patients. A total of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pharmacotherapy 2006-05, Vol.26 (5), p.619-626
Main Authors: Raebel, Marsha A., Chester, Elizabeth A., Newsom, Elizabeth E., Lyons, Ella E., Kelleher, Julia A., Long, Charron, Miller, Chad, Magid, David J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
ambulatory care
Biological and medical sciences
Clinical trial. Drug monitoring
Colorado
computerized alert
Drug Monitoring - instrumentation
drug therapy
Female
General pharmacology
Health Maintenance Organizations
Humans
Laboratories, Hospital - organization & administration
laboratory monitoring
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Outpatients
Pharmacists
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Physicians
Safety Management
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Summary:Study Objective. To determine whether an electronic tool effectively increases the percentage of patients receiving laboratory monitoring during ongoing drug therapy. Design. Randomized trial. Setting. Outpatient medical offices of a group model health maintenance organization. Patients. A total of 9139 patients prescribed ongoing therapy with any of 14 drugs, resulting in 4871 patient‐drug combinations in the intervention group and 4780 in the usual‐care (control) group. Intervention. Physicians and pharmacists jointly developed monitoring guidelines based on published recommendations. Pharmacists were electronically alerted to missing laboratory results and then ordered tests, reminded patients to undergo tests, and reviewed and managed abnormal results. Measurements and Main Results. In the intervention group, 64% of patient‐drug combinations were monitored, whereas in the usual‐care group 58% were monitored (p
ISSN:0277-0008
1875-9114
DOI:10.1592/phco.26.5.619