title: Intervention to reduce telephone prescription requests.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate a systematic effort to reduce telephone orders for prescription medications in a community family practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three-year intervention project.
  
  
  METHODS
  Solo family practice in Ottawa.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients requesting telephone orders for prescription medications.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis of phone requests and orders was conducted on 1 continuous year's records. A new office policy was instituted on October 9, 1992, discouraging telephone orders for prescription medication. Prescription telephone requests and orders were then monitored continuously for the next 3 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Number of telephone prescription requests and orders per half-day 1 year before the intervention compared with the number for the 3 years after the intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One year before the intervention, there were 4.96 telephone prescription requests per half-day: 3 years after the intervention this number fell to 0.85. One year before the intervention, the number of telephone prescription orders per half-day was 4.80; this number fell continuously to 0.67 during the 3 years following the intervention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We observed a reduction in the number of telephone prescription requests and orders following the introduction of an office policy that encouraged prescribing and renewing medication in person.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa.
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Garwood
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Seaby
mesh_terms: D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D005194:Family Practice; D009864:Ontario; D011050:Policy Making; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013689:Telephone