[Effectiveness of an intervention to improve medical prescription quality in specialized care].
OBJECTIVE
The study was designed to research whether providing doctors with customized reports on prescription indicators,plus a presentation of the project to clinical departments and hospital boards, would improve prescription quality in specialized care.


METHODS
Quasi experimental intervention study. During three periods of time we observed whether any differences between physicians receiving said reports (intervention group) and physicians not receiving said reports (control group)occurred in three overall quality markers (94 physicians)--generic drugs, low therapeutic value drugs, and irrelevant novel drugs-and two specific indicators--angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (109 physicians) and omeprazole (169 physicians). Indicators were assessed using mean values (95% Cl) and differences between groups with the z test.


RESULTS
Prior to the intervention, indicators had no significant differences. At 4-6 months after delivering the report, generic drug prescription improved in the intervention group - 3.13%(1.79-4.47) versus 1.81% (1.08-2.54) in the control group,p = 0.041. After 10-12 months the intervention group had significantly improved versus the control group regarding: generic drugs, 4.01% (2.28-5.73) versus 2.22% (1.56-2.87), p = 0.025;ACE inhibitors, 58.89% (47.56-70.21) versus 45.91% (36.03-55.79), p = 0.042; and low therapeutic utility drugs, 8.57%(5.56-11.6) versus 12.35% (8.96-15.74), p = 0.047. Improvement regarding omeprazole did not reach statistical significance,and novel medications remained virtually unchanged.


CONCLUSIONS
The intervention proved effective for the improvement of qualitative prescription indicators in specialized care.
Rausell Rausell
V J
VJ
Servicio de Farmacia, Hospital General Universitario José María Morales Meseguer, Murcia, Spain. victorj.rausell@carm.es
Tobaruela Soto
M
M
Nájera Pérez
M D
MD
Iranzo Fernández
M D
MD
Jiménez de Zadava-Lissón López
P
P
López-Picazo Ferrer
J J
JJ
D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000897:Anti-Ulcer Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004363:Drug Utilization; D006801:Humans; D009853:Omeprazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care
D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors; D000897:Anti-Ulcer Agents; D009853:Omeprazole