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Announcement
Posted on 03.09.04
CERTs Research Produces New Medication Use Web Site
A new Web site based on research performed by the HMO Research Network CERTs offers healthcare providers a wealth of proven methods for improving patient safety and medication use. "The Tools and Techniques of Improved Medication Use" is a collection of stringently reviewed and expert-approved studies on reducing medication errors.
The "Tools and Techniques" site aims to increase the adoption of safe medication practices that have been proven to work through careful study. HMO Research Network researchers systematically reviewed hundreds of published studies on interventions to improve the quality and efficiency of medication use, eventually choosing just 50 to include in the Web site's "toolbox."
The analysis, led by Stephen Soumerai, ScD, linked a number of approaches to improving medication use with patient outcomes, and identified the settings in which each of those interventions was most helpful. Dissemination of drug samples with educational materials, collaborative guideline development, or one-to-one educational outreach had the best overall results. Disease management programs were effective at improving short-term patient outcomes.
Using the HMO Research Network findings, the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP) funded and built the "Tools and Techniques" site for healthcare providers. The site offers the full abstracts of each of the studies selected, as well as reviewer comments, a summary of the intervention materials or methods used, as well as actual copies of some materials.
Studies selected for inclusion on the "Tools and Techniques" site are organized into 3 categories:
- Disease management interventions: strategies designed to identify, treat, and monitor patients at risk of chronic disease
- Educational interventions: approaches to educate physicians, patients, and other practitioners
- Monitoring and feedback: interventions that provide feedback to practitioners regarding their current prescribing practices compared with their peers or accepted standards of practice
Studies can also be searched by medical condition. Sixteen therapeutic areas are represented on the site now, and more will be added as "Tools and Techniques" grows.
The site features a thumbnail summary of the general conclusions drawn by Dr. Soumerai and his team on what does and does not work for improving medication use and safety. The authors also include areas that should be priorities for further research, such as long-term disease management and the effects of financing and formulary-related interventions.
"Nothing is a higher priority for us than sharing broadly the available knowledge on patient safety, especially in an area such as medication use that is growing in importance," said AAHP president Karen Ignagni. "We are proud to collaborate with such prestigious institutions on the new medication safety initiative, and will reach out with information about it to professionals across the country who design medication safety programs."
Healthcare professionals can find "Tools and Techniques of Improved Medication Use" at http://www.aahp.org/redirect/ImprovedMedicationUse.htm.