Professional, structural and organisational interventions in primary care for reducing medication errors

The Safety of Outpatient Health Care : Review of Electronic Health Records

BACKGROUND

Despite considerable emphasis on delivering safe care, substantial patient harm occurs. Although most care occurs in the outpatient setting, knowledge of outpatient adverse events (AEs) remains limited.

OBJECTIVE

To measure AEs in the outpatient setting.

DESIGN

Retrospective review of the electronic health record (EHR).

SETTING

11 outpatient sites in Massachusetts in 2018.

PATIENTS

3103 patients who received outpatient care.

MEASUREMENTS

Using a trigger method, nurse reviewers identified possible AEs and physicians adjudicated them, ranked severity, and assessed preventability. Generalized estimating equations were used to assess the association of having at least 1 AE with age, sex, race, and primary insurance. Variation in AE rates was analyzed across sites.

RESULTS

The 3103 patients (mean age, 52 years) were more often female (59.8%), White (75.1%), English speakers (90.8%), and privately insured (70.4%) and had a mean of 4 outpatient encounters in 2018. Overall, 7.0% (95% CI, 4.6% to 9.3%) of patients had at least 1 AE (8.6 events per 100 patients annually). Adverse drug events were the most common AE (63.8%), followed by health care-associated infections (14.8%) and surgical or procedural events (14.2%). Severity was serious in 17.4% of AEs, life-threatening in 2.1%, and never fatal. Overall, 23.2% of AEs were preventable. Having at least 1 AE was less often associated with ages 18 to 44 years than with ages 65 to 84 years (standardized risk difference, -0.05 [CI, -0.09 to -0.02]) and more often associated with Black race than with Asian race (standardized risk difference, 0.09 [CI, 0.01 to 0.17]). Across study sites, 1.8% to 23.6% of patients had at least 1 AE and clinical category of AEs varied substantially.

LIMITATION

Retrospective EHR review may miss AEs.

CONCLUSION

Outpatient harm was relatively common and often serious. Adverse drug events were most frequent. Rates were higher among older adults. Interventions to curtail outpatient harm are urgently needed.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE

Controlled Risk Insurance Company and the Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions.

Contexts and mechanisms relevant to General Practitioner (GP) based interventions to reduce adverse drug events (ADE) in community dwelling older adults: a rapid realist review

Background

Older adults in Ireland are at increased risk of adverse drug events (ADE) due, in part, to increasing rates of polypharmacy. Interventions to reduce ADE in community dwelling older adults (CDOA) have had limited success, therefore, new approaches are required.A realist review uses a different lens to examine why and how interventions were supposed to work rather than if, they worked. A rapid realist review (RRR) is a more focused and accelerated version.The aim of this RRR is to identify and examine the contexts and mechanisms that play a role in the outcomes relevant to reducing ADE in CDOA in the GP setting that could inform the development of interventions in Ireland.

Methods

Six candidate theories (CT) were developed, based on knowledge of the field and recent literature, in relation to how interventions are expected to work. These formed the search strategy. Eighty full texts from 633 abstracts were reviewed, of which 27 were included. Snowballing added a further five articles, relevant policy documents increased the total number to 45. Data were extracted relevant to the theories under iteratively developed sub-themes using NVivo software.

Results

Of the six theories, three theories, relating to GP engagement in interventions, relevance of health policy documents for older adults, and shared decision-making, provided data to guide future interventions to reduce ADEs for CDOA in an Irish setting. There was insufficient data for two theories, a third was rejected as existing barriers in the Irish setting made it impractical to use.

Conclusions

To improve the success of Irish GP based interventions to reduce ADEs for CDOA, interventions must be relevant and easily applied in practice, supported by national policy and be adequately resourced. Future research is required to test our theories within a newly developed intervention.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior in the administration of medication in the home care setting: Cross-cultural Spanish adaptation

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study is to validate and adapt the "Knowledge Attitute and Behaviour in the administration of medication in the home care setting questionnaire" in the home care setting in Cordoba, Spain, through a cross-validation process.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study SAMPLE: 106 community nurses provide home care in Cordoba, and are involved in the management of the medication process in the patient's home.

MEASUREMENTS

Community nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors toward medication error prevention strategies in-home care.

RESULTS

For the evaluation of psychometric properties, Cronbach's α was calculated, which returned a value of 0.639, showing good internal consistency. Most participants agreed that the home care setting increases the risk of medication errors.

CONCLUSION

The study, underscores the importance of analyzing the phenomenon of medication errors in the home care setting. The characteristics and peculiarities of a home care setting are different from a hospital setting, which means that factors such as the environment, the figures involved in the care process (caregivers and/or family members), and the way in which they communicate with the rest of the multi-professional team can influence both the type of errors and the likelihood of their occurrence.

General practitioners' assessment of interventions applied to optimize laboratory test utilization: a cross-sectional survey study

General practitioners (GPs) in the Region of Southern Denmark were randomly allocated to a range of interventions to optimize their use of Vitamin D tests over one year. The aim of the current survey study was to investigate GPs assessment of the interventions. Using REDCap web-platform, we invited 638 GPs to participate in a survey about their experiences of guidelines, feedback reports, non-interruptive alerts, and interruptive alerts. The questions were customized for the different interventions. We received responses from only 131 GPs (21%), but no differences in gender, age, or type of GP clinic were observed between responders and invited GPs. Approximately half of the GPs found that guidelines were helpful, and a similar proportion of GPs read the feedback reports 'often' or 'always'. The pop-up alerts were accepted when used for maximum three months for often-used tests. In contrast, alerts were accepted for long periods for rarely-used tests. The groups that were exposed to the interruptive alert found it 'problematic' that it appeared every time vitamin D was requested. Guidelines and feedback reports on tests numbers were accepted, but it was previously found, that they had little effect on improving the use of biochemical tests. Pop-up alerts in the requesting IT system can produce alert fatigue. Future research should focus on developing feedback reports that - when possible - also include relevant clinical information, and pop-up alerts should for often used tests be displayed only for weeks or a few months, but can be repeated.

Primary care teams' reported actions to improve medication safety: a qualitative study with insights in high reliability organising

BACKGROUND

Our aim was to understand actions by primary care teams to improve medication safety.

METHODS

This was a qualitative study using one-on-one, semistructured interviews with the questions guided by concepts from collaborative care and systems engineering models, and with references to the care of older adults. We interviewed 21 primary care physicians and their team members at four primary care sites serving patients with mostly low socioeconomic status in Southwest US during 2019-2020. We used thematic analysis with a combination of inductive and deductive coding. First, codes capturing safety actions were incrementally developed and revised iteratively by a team of multidisciplinary analysts using the inductive approach. Themes that emerged from the coded safety actions taken by primary care professionals to improve medication safety were then mapped to key principles from the high reliability organisation framework using a deductive approach.

RESULTS

Primary care teams described their actions in medication safety mainly in making standard-of-care medical decisions, patient-shared decision-making, educating patients and their caregivers, providing asynchronous care separate from office visits and providing clinical infrastructure. Most of the actions required customisation at the individual level, such as limiting the supply of certain medications prescribed and simplifying medication regimens in certain patients. Primary care teams enacted high reliability organisation principles by anticipating and mitigating risks and taking actions to build resilience in patient work systems. The primary care teams' actions reflected their safety organising efforts as responses to many other agents in multiple settings that they could not control nor easily coordinate.

CONCLUSIONS

Primary care teams take many actions to shape medication safety outcomes in community settings, and these actions demonstrated that primary care teams are a reservoir of resilience for medication safety in the overall healthcare system. To improve medication safety, primary care work systems require different strategies than those often used in more self-contained systems such as hospital inpatient or surgical services.

Clinical, economic and humanistic outcomes of medication therapy management services: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Medication therapy management (MTM) services is a method that can effectively improve patients’ conditions, but the efficacy of economic and humanistic outcomes remain unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to use economic, clinical and humanistic outcomes to evaluate the multi-benefits of MTM services.

Method: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted by retrieving PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library and ClinicalTrial.gov from the inception to April 2022. There were two reviewers screening the records, extracting the data, and assessing the quality of studies independently.

Results: A total of 81 studies with 60,753 participants were included. MTM services were more effective in clinical outcomes with decreasing the rate of readmission (OR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.73 to 0.83; I2 = 56%), emergency department visit (OR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.81 to 0.96; I2 = 32%), adverse drug events (All-cause: OR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.56 to 0.84; I2 = 61%; SAE: OR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.33 to 0.79; I2 = 35%) and drug-related problems (MD: −1.37; 95% CI: −2.24 to −0.5; I2 = 95%), reducing the length of stay in hospital (MD: −0.74; 95% CI: −1.37 to −0.13; I2 = 70%), while the economic and humanistic outcomes were less effective.

Conclusion: Our systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrated that MTM services had great ability to improve patients’ clinical conditions while the efficacy of economic and humanistic outcomes, with some of the outcomes showing high degree of heterogeneity and possible publication bias, required more future studies to provide stronger evidence.

Systematic Review Registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=349050], identifier [CRD42022349050].

Pharmacist Intervention in Portuguese Older Adult Care

Healthy ageing has become one of the most significant challenges in a society with an increasing life expectancy. Older adults have a greater prevalence of chronic disease, with the need for multiple medications to appropriately control these issues. In addition to their health concerns, ageing individuals are prone to loneliness, dependence, and economic issues, which may affect their quality of life. Governments and health professionals worldwide have developed various strategies to promote active and healthy ageing to improve the quality of life of older adults. Pharmacists are highly qualified health professionals, easily accessible to the population, thus playing a pivotal role in medication management. Their proximity to the patient puts them in a unique position to provide education and training to improve therapeutic adherence and identify medication-related problems. This paper aims to address the importance of Portuguese community pharmacists in the medication management of older adults, emphasising their intervention in health promotion, patient education, medication-related problems, deprescription, dose administration aids, and medication review and reconciliation. We also discuss home delivery services and medication management in long-term care facilities.

Implementing evidence-based anticoagulant prescribing: User-centered design findings and recommendations

Background

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are widely used medications with an unacceptably high rate of prescription errors and are a leading cause of adverse drug events. Clinical decision support, including medication alerts, can be an effective implementation strategy to reduce prescription errors, but quality is often inconsistent. User-centered design (UCD) approaches can improve the effectiveness of alerts.

Objectives

To design effective DOAC prescription alerts through UCD and develop a set of generalizable design recommendations.

Methods

This study used an iterative UCD process with practicing clinicians. In three rapid iterative design and assessment stages, prototype alert designs were created and refined using a test electronic health record (EHR) environment and simulated patients. We identified key emergent themes across all user observations and interviews. The themes and final designs were used to derive a set of design guidelines.

Results

Our UCD sample comprised 13 prescribers, including advanced practice providers, physicians in training, primary care physicians, and cardiologists. The resulting alert designs embody our design recommendations, which include establishing intended indication, clarifying dosing by renal function, tailoring alert language in drug interactions, facilitating trust in alerts, and minimizing interaction overhead.

Conclusions

Through a robust UCD process, we have identified key recommendations for implementing medication alerts aimed at improving evidence-based DOAC prescribing. These recommendations may be applicable to the implementation of DOAC alerts in any EHR systems.

Contexts and mechanisms relevant to General Practitioner (GP) based interventions to reduce adverse drug events (ADE) in community dwelling older adults: a rapid realist review

Background: Older adults in Ireland are at increased risk of adverse drug events (ADE) due, in part, to increasing rates of polypharmacy. Interventions to reduce ADE in community dwelling older adults (CDOA) have had limited success, therefore, new approaches are required. A realist review uses a different lens to examine why and how interventions were supposed to work rather than if, they worked. A rapid realist review (RRR) is a more focused and accelerated version. The aim of this RRR is to identify and examine the contexts and mechanisms that play a role in the outcomes relevant to reducing ADE in CDOA in the GP setting that could inform the development of interventions in Ireland. Methods: Six candidate theories (CT) were developed, based on knowledge of the field and recent literature, in relation to how interventions are expected to work. These formed the search strategy. Eighty full texts from 633 abstracts were reviewed, of which 27 were included. Snowballing added a further five articles, relevant policy documents increased the total number to 45. Data were extracted relevant to the theories under iteratively developed sub-themes using NVivo software. Results: Of the six theories, three theories, relating to GP engagement in interventions, relevance of health policy documents for older adults, and shared decision-making, provided data to guide future interventions to reduce ADEs for CDOA in an Irish setting. There was insufficient data for two theories, a third was rejected as existing barriers in the Irish setting made it impractical to use. Conclusions: To improve the success of Irish GP based interventions to reduce ADEs for CDOA, interventions must be relevant and easily applied in practice, supported by national policy and be adequately resourced. Future research is required to test our theories within a newly developed intervention.

Evaluating the impact of a polypharmacy Action Learning Sets tool on healthcare practitioners' confidence, perceptions and experiences of stopping inappropriate medicines

BACKGROUND

Issues of medication adherence, multimorbidity, increased hospitalisation risk and negative impact upon quality of life have led to the management of polypharmacy becoming a national priority. Clinical guidelines advise a patient-centred approach, involving shared decision-making and multidisciplinary team working. However, there have been limited educational initiatives to improve healthcare practitioners' management of polypharmacy and stopping inappropriate medicines. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a polypharmacy Action Learning Sets (ALS) tool across five areas: i. healthcare practitioners' confidence and perceptions of stopping medicines; ii. knowledge and information sources around stopping medicines; iii. perception of patients and stopping medicines; iv. perception of colleagues and stopping medicines and v. perception of the role of institutional factors in stopping medicines.

METHODS

The ALS tool was delivered to a multi-disciplinary group of healthcare practitioners: GPs [n = 24] and pharmacy professionals [n = 9]. A pre-post survey with 28 closed statements across five domains relating to the study aims [n = 32] and a post evaluation feedback survey with 4 open-ended questions [n = 33] were completed. Paired pre-post ALS responses [n = 32] were analysed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Qualitative responses were analysed using a simplified version of the constant comparative method.

RESULTS

The ALS tool showed significant improvement in 14 of 28 statements in the pre-post survey across the five domains. Qualitative themes (QT) from the post evaluation feedback survey include: i. awareness and management of polypharmacy; ii. opportunity to share experiences; iii. usefulness of ALS as a learning tool and iv. equipping with tools and information. Synthesised themes (ST) from analysis of pre-post survey data and post evaluation feedback survey data include: i. awareness, confidence and management of inappropriate polypharmacy, ii. equipping with knowledge, information, tools and resources and iii. decision-making and discussion about stopping medicines with colleagues in different settings.

CONCLUSIONS

This evaluation contributes to developing understanding of the role of educational initiatives in improving inappropriate polypharmacy, demonstrating the effectiveness of the ALS tool in improving healthcare practitioners' awareness, confidence and perceptions in stopping inappropriate medicines. Further evaluation is required to examine impact of the ALS tool in different localities as well as longer-term impact.

Bone health in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: clinical and biochemical correlates

PURPOSE

An increased fracture risk is commonly reported in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Our aim was to investigate bone mineral density (BMD) and bone turnover, including sclerostin, and their association with markers of cardiac and respiratory performance in a cohort of DMD subjects.

METHODS

In this single center, cross sectional observational study, lumbar spine (LS) BMD Z-scores, C-terminal telopeptide of procollagen type I (CTX) and osteocalcin (BGP), as bone resorption and formation markers, respectively, and sclerostin were assessed. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were evaluated. Clinical prevalent fractures were also recorded.

RESULTS

Thirty-one patients [median age = 14 (12-21.5) years] were studied. Ambulant subjects had higher LS BMD Z-scores compared with non-ambulant ones and subjects with prevalent clinical fractures [n = 9 (29%)] showed lower LS BMD Z-scores compared with subjects without fractures. LS BMD Z-scores were positively correlated with FVC (r = 0.50; p = 0.01), but not with glucocorticoid use, and FVC was positively associated with BGP (r = 0.55; p = 0.02). In non-ambulant subjects, LS BMD Z-scores were associated with BMI (r = 0.54; p = 0.02) and sclerostin was associated with age (r = 0.44; p = 0.05). Age, BMI, FVC and sclerostin were independently associated with LS BMD Z-score in a stepwise multiple regression analysis. Older age, lower BMI, FVC and sclerostin were associated with lower LS BMD Z-scores.

CONCLUSION

In a cohort of DMD patients, our data confirm low LS BMD Z-scores, mainly in non-ambulant subjects and irrespective of the glucocorticoid use, and suggest that FVC and sclerostin are independently associated with LS BMD Z-scores.

Analysis of Patient Safety Incidents in Primary Care Reported in an Electronic Registry Application

OBJECTIVES

(1) To describe the epidemiology of patient safety (PS) incidents registered in an electronic notification system in primary care (PC) health centres; (2) to define a risk map; and (3) to identify the critical areas where intervention is needed.

DESIGN

Descriptive analytical study of incidents reported from 1 January to 31 December 2018, on the TPSC Cloud™ platform (The Patient Safety Company) accessible from the corporate website (Intranet) of the regional public health service.

SETTING

24 Catalan Institute of Health PC health centres of the Tarragona region (Spain).

PARTICIPANTS

Professionals from the PC health centres and a Patient Safety Functional Unit.

MEASUREMENTS

Data obtained from records voluntarily submitted to an electronic, standardised and anonymised form. Data recorded: healthcare unit, notifier, type of incident, risk matrix, causal and contributing factors, preventability, level of resolution and improvement actions.

RESULTS

A total of 1544 reports were reviewed and 1129 PS incidents were analysed: 25.0% of incidents did not reach the patient; 66.5% reached the patient without causing harm, and 8.5% caused adverse events. Nurses provided half of the reports (48.5%), while doctors reported more adverse events (70.8%; p < 0.01). Of the 96 adverse events, 46.9% only required observation, 34.4% caused temporary damage that required treatment, 13.5% required (or prolonged) hospitalization, and 5.2% caused severe permanent damage and/or a situation close to death. Notably, 99.2% were considered preventable. The main critical areas were: communication (27.8%), clinical-administrative management (25.1%), care delivery (23.5%) and medicines (18.4%); few incidents were related to diagnosis (3.6%).

CONCLUSIONS

PS incident notification applications are adequate for reporting incidents and adverse events associated with healthcare. Approximately 75% and 10% of incidents reach the patient and cause some damage, respectively, and most cases are considered preventable. Adequate and strengthened risk management of critical areas is required to improve PS.

Patient Safety Culture Assessment in Primary Care Settings in Greece

Introduction: A positive safety culture is considered a pillar of safety in health organizations and the first crucial step for quality health services. In this context, the aim of this study was to set a reference evaluation for the patient safety culture in the primary health sector in Greece, based on health professionals’ perceptions. Methods: We used a cross-sectional survey with a 62% response rate (n = 459), conducted in primary care settings in Greece (February to May 2020). We utilized the “Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture” survey tool from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The study participants were health professionals who interacted with patients from 12 primary care settings in Greece. Results: The most highly ranked domains were: “Teamwork” (82%), “Patient Care Tracking/Follow-up” (80% of positive scores), and “Organizational Learning” (80%); meanwhile, the lowest-ranked ones were: “Leadership Support for Patient Safety” (62%) and “Work Pressure and Pace” (46%). The other domains, such as “Overall Perceptions of Patient Safety and Quality” (77%), “Staff Training“ (70%), “Communication about Error” (70%), “Office Processes and Standardization” (67%), and “Communication Openness” (64%), ranked somewhere in between. Conclusions: A positive safety culture was identified in primary care settings in Greece, although weak areas concerning the safety culture should be addressed in order to improve patient safety.

Pharmacist-led educational interventions provided to healthcare providers to reduce medication errors: A systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Medication errors are avoidable events that can occur at any stage of the medication use process. They are widespread in healthcare systems and are linked to an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Several strategies have been studied to reduce their occurrence including different types of pharmacy-based interventions. One of the main pharmacist-led interventions is educational programs, which seem to have promising benefits.

OBJECTIVE

To describe and compare various pharmacist-led educational interventions delivered to healthcare providers and to evaluate their impact qualitatively and quantitatively on medication error rates.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted through searching Cochrane Library, EBSCO, EMBASE, Medline and Google Scholar from inception to June 2020. Only interventional studies that reported medication error rate change after the intervention were included. Two independent authors worked through the data extraction and quality assessment using Crowe Critical Appraisal Tool (CCAT). Summary odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model for rates of medication errors. Research protocol is available in The International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) under the registration number CRD42019116465.

RESULTS

Twelve studies involving 115058 participants were included. The two main recipients of the educational interventions were nurses and resident physicians. Educational programs involved lectures, posters, practical teaching sessions, audit and feedback method and flash cards of high-risk abbreviations. All studies included educational sessions as part of their program, either alone or in combination with other approaches, and most studies used errors encountered before implementing the intervention to inform the content of these sessions. Educational programs led by a pharmacist were associated with significant reductions in the overall rate of medication errors occurrence (OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.65).

CONCLUSION

Pharmacist-led educational interventions directed to healthcare providers are effective at reducing medication error rates. This review supports the implementation of pharmacist-led educational intervention aimed at reducing medication errors.

Medication incident recovery and prevention utilising an Australian community pharmacy incident reporting system: the QUMwatch study

PURPOSE

To identify factors in community pharmacy that facilitate error recovery from medication incidents (MIs) and explore medication safety prevention strategies from the pharmacist perspective.

METHODS

Thirty community pharmacies in Sydney, Australia, participated in a 30-month prospective incident reporting program of MIs classified in the Advanced Incident Management System (AIMS) and the analysis triangulated with case studies. The main outcome measures were the relative frequencies and patterns in MI detection, minimisation, restorative actions and prevention recommendations of community pharmacists.

RESULTS

Participants reported 1013 incidents with 831 recovered near misses and 165 purported patient harm. MIs were mainly initiated at the prescribing (68.2%) and dispensing (22.6%) stages, and most were resolved at the pharmacy (76.9%). Detection was efficient within the first 24 h in 54.6% of MIs, but 26.1% required one month or longer; 37.2% occurred after the patient consumed the medicine. The combination of specific actions/attributes (85.5%), appropriate interventions (81.6%) and effective communication (77.7%) minimised MIs. An array of remedial actions were conducted by participants including notification, referral, advice, modification of medication regimen, risk management and documentation corrections. Recommended prevention strategies involved espousal of medication safety culture (97.8%), better application of policies/procedures (84.6%) and improvements in healthcare providers' education (79.9%).

CONCLUSION

Incident reporting provided insights on the human and organisational factors involved in the recovery of MIs in community pharmacy. Optimising existing safeguards and redesigning certain structures and processes may enhance the resilience of the medication use system in primary care.

The Impact of Medication Reviews Conducted in Primary Care on Hospital Admissions and Mortality: An Observational Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background

Drug-related problems among the elderly population are common and increasing. Multi-professional medication reviews (MR) have arisen as a method to optimize drug therapy for frail elderly patients. Research has not yet been able to show conclusive evidence of the effect of MRs on mortality or hospital admissions.

Aim

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of MRs’ on hospital admissions and mortality after six and 12 months in a frail population of 369 patients in primary care in a cohort from a randomized controlled study.

Methods

Patients were blindly randomized to an intervention group (receiving MRs) and a control group (receiving usual care). Descriptive data on mortality and hospital admissions at six and 12 months were collected. Survival analysis was performed for time to death and time to the first hospital admission within 12 months.

Results

An observational follow-up was performed in a cohort of 369 patients, previously randomized to an intervention group (182) and a control group (187). Most of the patients (75%) were females and lived in nursing homes. At six months, 50 patients of the baseline population (27%) in the control group had been admitted to hospital at least once, compared to 40 patients (21%) in the intervention group. At 12 months, the percentage had increased to 70 (37%) in the control group compared to 53 (29%) in the intervention group. Compared to usual care, we found that MRs reduced the risk of hospital admissions within 12 months by 42% (HR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.37–0.92, p=0.021), but found no difference in mortality (HR = 1.12, 95% CI 0.78–1.61, p=0.551) between the groups.

Conclusion

We suggest that MRs should be recommended in the care of frail elderly patients with expected benefits on delayed hospital admissions. The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, registration number NCT04040855, Unique Protocol ID 2018/8.

General practitioner practice-based pharmacist input to medicines optimisation in the UK: pragmatic, multicenter, randomised, controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Changing demographics across the UK has led to general practitioners (GPs) managing increasing numbers of older patients with multi-morbidity and resultant polypharmacy. Through government led initiatives within the National Health Service, an increasing number of GP practices employ pharmacist support. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of a medicines optimisation intervention, delivered by GP practice-based pharmacists, to patients at risk of medication-related problems (MRPs), on patient outcomes and healthcare costs.

METHODS

A multi-centre, randomised (normal care or pharmacist supplemented care) study in four regions of the UK, involving patients (n = 356) from eight GP practices, with a 6-month follow-up period. Participants were adult patients who were at risk of MRPs.

RESULTS

Median number of MRPs per intervention patient were reduced at the third assessment, i.e. 3 to 0.5 (p < 0.001) in patients who received the full intervention schedule. Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI) scores were reduced (medications more appropriate) for the intervention group, but not for control group patients (8 [4-13] to 5 [0-11] vs 8 [3-13] to 7 [3-12], respectively; p = 0.001). Using the intention-to-treat (ITT) approach, the number of telephone consultations in intervention group patients was reduced and different from the control group (1 [0-3] to 1 [0-2] vs 1 [0-2] to 1 [0-3], p = 0.020). No significant differences between groups were, however, found in unplanned hospital admissions, length of hospital stay, number of A&E attendances or outpatient visits. The mean overall healthcare cost per intervention patient fell from £1041.7 ± 1446.7 to £859.1 ± 1235.2 (p = 0.032). Cost utility analysis showed an incremental cost per patient of - £229.0 (95% CI - 594.6, 128.2) and a mean QALY gained of 0.024 (95% CI - 0.021 to 0.065), i.e. indicative of a health status gain at a reduced cost (2016/2017).

CONCLUSION

The pharmacist service was effective in reducing MRPs, inappropriateness of medications and telephone consultations in general practice in a cost-effective manner.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.Gov, NCT03241498. Registered 7 August 2017-Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03241498.

PRN Medicines Optimization and Nurse Education

Medicines management is a high-risk and error prone process in healthcare settings, where nurses play an important role to preserve patient safety. In order to create a safe healthcare environment, nurses should recognize challenges that they face in this process, understand factors leading to medication errors, identify errors and systematically address them to prevent their future occurrence. ''Pro re nata'' (PRN, as needed) medicine administration is a relatively neglected area of medicines management in nursing practice, yet has a high potential for medication errors. Currently, the international literature indicates a lack of knowledge of both the competencies required for PRN medicines management and the optimum educational strategies to prepare students for PRN medicines management. To address this deficiency in the literature, the authors have presented a discussion on nurses' roles in medication safety and the significance and purpose of PRN medications, and suggest a model for preparing nursing students in safe PRN medicines management. The discussion takes into account patient participation and nurse competencies required to safeguard PRN medication practice, providing a background for further research on how to improve the safety of PRN medicines management in clinical practice.

Prescription Rates for Antiplatelet Therapy (APT) in Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) - What Benchmark are We Aiming at in Continuing Medical Education (CME)?

Physicians always aim to improve their patients' health. CME should be designed not only to provide knowledge transfer, but also to influence clinical decision-making and to close performance gaps. In aretrospective study we analysed prescription rates for APT in 254,932 CAD patients (male: 64.4%), treated in atotal of 3,405 practices in 2019 in aDMP in the region of North Rhine, Germany. Analyses were run for the whole study population stratified by sex as well as for subgroups of patients suffering from myocardial infarction/acute coronary syndrome, or who have been treated with percutaneous coronary intervention or bypass surgery. Patients mean age was 72.7 ± 11.2 years (mean ± 1SD), mean duration of DMP participation was 7.2 ± 4.7 years, and mean cumulative number of DMP visits was 27 ± 17. APT prescription rates were 85.0% in male and 78.8% in female CAD patients. In subgroups of male CAD patients APT prescription rates were between 89.7% and 92.8%, in the same subgroups of female CAD patients the corresponding rates were between 87.8% and 92.0%. Rates for amissing APT prescription per practice were between .0044% and .0062% for male and female CAD patients, respectively. Rates for amissing APT prescription per practice and DMP visit were .0002% for both sexes. These results suggest that a DMP can achieve high attainment rates for APT in CAD. To further improve attainment rates, consideration of absolute numbers of eligible patients per practice or physician is probably more appropriate than expression of performance as percentage values. This is especially true if attainment rates show substantial variations between subgroups, if subgroups show substantial variation in size, if attainment rates are already in the magnitude of 80% or higher, and if there are disparities in the evidence base underlying treatment recommendations related to subgroups.

Behavioural changes in medication safety: Consequent to an action research intervention

AIM

To explore the extent to which action research assists developing medication safety behaviours among emergency medicine staff.

BACKGROUND

Health care staff involved in medication therapy are frequently required to implement progressive changes. To permanently improve medication safety, we must consider staff behaviour. This study utilizes action research to engage health care workers and engender behavioural changes.

METHOD

Two cycles of action research were implemented. Data were collected through pre- and post-medication safety surveys, unstructured interviews and field notes. Staff in the emergency department worked together to progress the study cycles.

RESULTS

The pre-evaluation phase revealed deficiencies in staff medication safety behaviour. Subsequent to the implementation of safety initiatives, pre- to post-evaluation comparison indicated significant improvement in medication safety behaviours. In response to qualitative reflection phase data in reflection, ward pharmacists were placed in the emergency department and anew policy on responding to medication error was developed. Analysed field notes revealed improved safe patient care, enhanced pharmaceutical knowledge and changes in the emergency department climate.

CONCLUSIONS

Through action research, this study introduced actions to improve medication safety behaviours in the emergency department. Staff involvement led to changed safety behaviours.

IMPLICATION FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

This study advises nurse managers of the benefit of pharmacist-led medication therapy, interprofessional medication safety courses and active communication between front-line staff and managers regarding medication safety.

Nudge strategies to improve healthcare providers' implementation of evidence-based guidelines, policies and practices: a systematic review of trials included within Cochrane systematic reviews

BACKGROUND

Nudge interventions are those that seek to modify the social and physical environment to enhance capacity for subconscious behaviours that align with the intrinsic values of an individual, without actively restricting options. This study sought to describe the application and effects of nudge strategies on clinician implementation of health-related guidelines, policies and practices within studies included in relevant Cochrane systematic reviews.

METHODS

As there is varied terminology used to describe nudge, this study examined studies within relevant systematic reviews. A two-stage screening process was undertaken where, firstly, all systematic reviews published in the Cochrane Library between 2016 and 2018 were screened to identify reviews that included quantitative studies to improve implementation of guidelines among healthcare providers. Secondly, individual studies within relevant systematic reviews were included if they were (i) randomised controlled trials (RCTs), (ii) included a nudge strategy in at least one intervention arm, and (iii) explicitly aimed to improve clinician implementation behaviour. We categorised nudge strategies into priming, salience and affect, default, incentives, commitment and ego, and norms and messenger based on the Mindspace framework.

SYNTHESIS

The number and percentage of trials using each nudge strategy was calculated. Due to substantial heterogeneity, we did not undertake a meta-analysis. Instead, we calculated within-study point estimates and 95% confidence intervals, and used a vote-counting approach to explore effects.

RESULTS

Seven reviews including 42 trials reporting on 57 outcomes were included. The most common nudge strategy was priming (69%), then norms and messenger (40%). Of the 57 outcomes, 86% had an effect on clinician behaviour in the hypothesised direction, and 53% of those were statistically significant. For continuous outcomes, the median effect size was 0.39 (0.22, 0.45), while for dichotomous outcomes the median Odds Ratio was 1.62 (1.13, 2.76).

CONCLUSIONS

This review of 42 RCTs included in Cochrane systematic reviews found that the impact of nudge strategies on clinician behaviour was at least comparable to other interventions targeting implementation of evidence-based guidelines. While uncertainty remains, the review provides justification for ongoing investigation of the evaluation and application of nudge interventions to support provider behaviour change.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This review was not prospectively registered.

Clinical Pharmacy Services in Older Inpatients: An Evidence-Based Review

BACKGROUND

Hospital admissions in older adults are frequently drug related and avoidable. Clinical pharmacy interventions during hospital stay might reduce drug-related harm and reduce hospital visits. Moreover, several recent positive clinical pharmacy investigations incorporated a transitional care component to further improve medication use after discharge. It is currently unclear what the strength of evidence is and what the exact components should be of such clinical pharmacy interventions in older adults.

OBJECTIVE

An evidence-based review was performed to determine the status of the evidence and also to explore whether a clinical pharmacy intervention incorporating transitional care was associated with reduced hospital visits after discharge.

METHODS

Prospective controlled investigations were included if they contained a clinical pharmacy intervention that was initiated before discharge in older inpatients. Relevant quasi-experimental and randomized controlled trials were searched in MEDLINE. First, an evidence-based review was performed, including a description of the study design, characteristics, and outcomes. Major components of successful clinical pharmacy interventions were described and potential implications for clinical practice and research were determined. Second, the Fisher's exact test was used to explore the association between transitional care and reduced hospital visits. Third, based on these findings, a medication review proposal was developed to improve medication use in older adults.

RESULTS

Thirty-five studies were included, with 26 randomized controlled trials. Median patient follow-up after discharge was 90 days (interquartile range 37-180 days) and investigators enrolled a median of 210 (interquartile range 110-498) study participants. On average, patients were aged 77.5 years (interquartile range 73-82.2 years). Nine randomized controlled trials had sufficient power to detect a reduction in hospital visits after discharge; this was reduced in three randomized controlled trials. Post-discharge follow-up was not associated with reduced post-discharge hospital visits (20 randomized controlled trials: follow-up vs. no follow-up: 6/11 vs. 1/9, p = 0.070). There was a significant reduction in post-discharge hospital visits in patients aged 75 years or older (12 randomized controlled trials: follow-up vs. no follow-up: 5/7 vs. 0/5, p = 0.028). A medication review proposal was developed, consisting of six steps.

CONCLUSIONS

Three powered randomized controlled trials were identified that found a significant association between a pharmacist-led intervention in older adults and a reduction in post-discharge hospital visits. In clinical practice, an intervention consisting of medication reconciliation, review, counseling, and post-discharge follow-up should be provided to such high-risk inpatients. Regarding research priorities, large, multi-center randomized controlled trials should be performed to generate more evidence on the impact of clinical pharmacy interventions on the patient trajectory and economic outcomes.

Interventions to Reduce Adverse Drug Event-Related Outcomes in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Many studies focus on interventions that reduce the processes that lead to adverse drug events (ADEs), such as inappropriate or high-risk prescribing, without assessing whether they result in a reduction in ADEs or associated adverse health outcomes.

OBJECTIVES

Our objective was to systematically review interventions to reduce the incidence of ADEs measured by health outcomes in older patients in primary care settings.

METHODS

The review included randomised controlled trials, controlled clinical trials, controlled before and after studies, interrupted time series studies and cohort studies conducted in the community care setting. Older patients (aged ≥ 65 years) receiving medical treatment in primary care were included. Interventions were aimed at reducing adverse health outcomes associated with ADEs in older patients. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool. Outcomes were measured by reductions in hospitalisation, emergency department (ED) visits, mortality and improvements in quality of life (QoL), mental health and physical function. Fixed and random-effects models were used to calculate pooled effect estimates comparing interventions and control groups for the outcomes, where feasible.

RESULTS

The literature search identified 1566 abstracts, seven of which were included in the systematic review. The interventions for reducing ADEs included prescription or medication reviews by a pharmacist (n = 4), primary care physician (n = 1) or research team (n = 1), and an educational intervention (n = 1) for nursing staff to improve the recognition of potentially harmful medications and corresponding ADEs. Meta-analysis found no statistically significant benefit from any interventions on hospitalisation, ED visits, mortality, QoL or mental health and physical function.

CONCLUSIONS

No significant benefit was gained from any of the interventions in terms of the outcomes considered. New approaches are required to reduce ADEs in older adults.

Adverse drug reactions in primary care: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

Medication-related adverse events, or adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are harmful events caused by medication. ADRs could have profound effects on the patients' quality of life, as well as creating an increased burden on the healthcare system. ADRs are one of the rising causes of morbidity and mortality internationally, and will continue to be a significant public health issue with the increased complexity in medication, to treat various diseases in an aging society. This scoping review aims to provide a detailed map of the most common adverse drug reactions experienced in primary healthcare setting, the drug classes that are most commonly associated with different levels/types of adverse drug reactions, causes of ADRs, their prevalence and consequences of experiencing ADRs.

METHODS

We systematically reviewed electronic databases Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL Plus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO and Scopus. In addition, the National Patient Safety Foundation Bibliography and the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality and Patient Safety Net Bibliography were searched. Studies published from 1990 onwards until December 7, 2018 were included as the incidence of reporting drug reactions were not prevalent before 1990. We only include studies published in English.

RESULTS

The final search yielded a total of 19 citations for inclusion published over a 15-year period that primarily focused on investigating the different types of adverse drug reactions in primary healthcare. The most causes of adverse events were related to drug related and allergies. Idiosyncratic adverse reactions were not very commonly reported. The most common adverse drug reactions reported in the studies included in this review were those that are associated with the central nervous system, gastrointestinal system and cardiovascular system. Several classes of medications were reported to be associated with adverse events.

CONCLUSION

This scoping review identified that the most causes of ADRs were drug related and due to allergies. Idiosyncratic adverse reactions were not very commonly reported in the literature. This is mainly because it is hard to predict and these reactions are not associated with drug doses or routes of administration. The most common ADRs reported in the studies included in this review were those that are associated with the central nervous system, gastrointestinal system and cardiovascular system. Several classes of medications were reported to be associated with ADRs.

Prevalence, severity, and nature of preventable patient harm across medical care settings: systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To systematically quantify the prevalence, severity, and nature of preventable patient harm across a range of medical settings globally.

DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

DATA SOURCES

Medline, PubMed, PsycINFO, Cinahl and Embase, WHOLIS, Google Scholar, and SIGLE from January 2000 to January 2019. The reference lists of eligible studies and other relevant systematic reviews were also searched.

REVIEW METHODS

Observational studies reporting preventable patient harm in medical care. The core outcomes were the prevalence, severity, and types of preventable patient harm reported as percentages and their 95% confidence intervals. Data extraction and critical appraisal were undertaken by two reviewers working independently. Random effects meta-analysis was employed followed by univariable and multivariable meta regression. Heterogeneity was quantified by using the I2 statistic, and publication bias was evaluated.

RESULTS

Of the 7313 records identified, 70 studies involving 337 025 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence for preventable patient harm was 6% (95% confidence interval 5% to 7%). A pooled proportion of 12% (9% to 15%) of preventable patient harm was severe or led to death. Incidents related to drugs (25%, 95% confidence interval 16% to 34%) and other treatments (24%, 21% to 30%) accounted for the largest proportion of preventable patient harm. Compared with general hospitals (where most evidence originated), preventable patient harm was more prevalent in advanced specialties (intensive care or surgery; regression coefficient b=0.07, 95% confidence interval 0.04 to 0.10).

CONCLUSIONS

Around one in 20 patients are exposed to preventable harm in medical care. Although a focus on preventable patient harm has been encouraged by the international patient safety policy agenda, there are limited quality improvement practices specifically targeting incidents of preventable patient harm rather than overall patient harm (preventable and non-preventable). Developing and implementing evidence-based mitigation strategies specifically targeting preventable patient harm could lead to major service quality improvements in medical care which could also be more cost effective.

Community-Level Pharmaceutical Interventions to Reduce the Risks of Polypharmacy in the Elderly: Overview of Systematic Reviews and Economic Evaluations

Background: Patients over 65 years of age taking multiple medications face several risks, and pharmaceutical interventions can be useful to improve quality of care and reduce those risks. However, there is still no consensus on the effectiveness of these interventions aimed at promoting changes in clinical, epidemiological, economic, and humanistic outcomes for various service delivery, organizational, financial, and implementation-based interventions. The objective of this overview of systematic reviews was to summarize evidence on the effectiveness of community-level pharmaceutical interventions to reduce the risks associated with polypharmacy in the population over 65 years of age. Method: This overview used a previously described protocol to search for systematic review articles, with and without meta-analysis, and economic evaluations, without any language or time restrictions, including articles published up to May 2018. The following databases were searched: the Cochrane Library, Epistemonikos, Health Evidence, Health Systems Evidence, Virtual Health Library, and Google Scholar. The basic search terms used were "elderly," "polypharmacy," and "pharmaceutical interventions." The findings for outcomes of interest were categorized using a taxonomy for health policies and systems. Equity-related questions were also investigated. The studies were evaluated for methodological quality and produced a narrative synthesis. Results: A total of 642 records were retrieved: 50 from Health Evidence, 197 from Epistemonikos, 194 from Cochrane, 116 from Health Systems Evidence, and 85 from the Virtual Health Library. Of these, 16 articles were selected: 1 overview of systematic reviews, 12 systematic reviews, and 3 economic evaluations. There is evidence of improvement in clinical, epidemiological, humanistic, and economic outcomes for various types of community-level pharmaceutical interventions, but differences in observed outcomes may be due to study designs, primary study sample sizes, risk of bias, difficulty in aggregating data, heterogeneity of indicators and quality of evidence included in the systematic reviews that were assessed. It is necessary to optimize the methodological designs of future primary and secondary studies. Conclusion: Community-level pharmaceutical interventions can improve various clinical, epidemiological, humanistic and economic outcomes and potentially reduce risks associated with polypharmacy in the elderly population.

SMASH! The Salford medication safety dashboard

BACKGROUND

Patient safety is vital to well-functioning health systems. A key component is safe prescribing, particularly in primary care where most medications are prescribed. Previous research demonstrated that the number of patients exposed to potentially hazardous prescribing can be reduced by interrogating the electronic health record (EHR) database of general practices and providing feedback to general practitioners in a pharmacist-led intervention. We aimed to develop and roll out an online dashboard application that delivers this audit and feedback intervention in a continuous fashion.

METHOD

Based on initial system requirements we designed the dashboard's user interface over 3 iterations with 6 general practitioners (GPs), 7 pharmacists and a member of the public. Prescribing safety indicators from previous work were implemented in the dashboard. Pharmacists were trained to use the intervention and deliver it to general practices.

RESULTS

A web-based electronic dashboard was developed and linked to shared care records in Salford, UK. The completed dashboard was deployed in all but one (n=43) general practices in the region. By November 2017, 36 pharmacists had been trained in delivering the intervention to practices. There were 135 registered users of the dashboard, with an average of 91 user sessions a week.

CONCLUSION

We have developed and successfully rolled out of a complex, pharmacist-led dashboard intervention in Salford, UK. System usage statistics indicate broad and sustained uptake of the intervention. The use of systems that provide regularly updated audit information may be an important contributor towards medication safety in primary care.

Association Between Physician Burnout and Patient Safety, Professionalism, and Patient Satisfaction: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

IMPORTANCE

Physician burnout has taken the form of an epidemic that may affect core domains of health care delivery, including patient safety, quality of care, and patient satisfaction. However, this evidence has not been systematically quantified.

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether physician burnout is associated with an increased risk of patient safety incidents, suboptimal care outcomes due to low professionalism, and lower patient satisfaction.

DATA SOURCES

MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycInfo, and CINAHL databases were searched until October 22, 2017, using combinations of the key terms physicians, burnout, and patient care. Detailed standardized searches with no language restriction were undertaken. The reference lists of eligible studies and other relevant systematic reviews were hand-searched.

STUDY SELECTION

Quantitative observational studies.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Two independent reviewers were involved. The main meta-analysis was followed by subgroup and sensitivity analyses. All analyses were performed using random-effects models. Formal tests for heterogeneity (I2) and publication bias were performed.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The core outcomes were the quantitative associations between burnout and patient safety, professionalism, and patient satisfaction reported as odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% CIs.

RESULTS

Of the 5234 records identified, 47 studies on 42 473 physicians (25 059 [59.0%] men; median age, 38 years [range, 27-53 years]) were included in the meta-analysis. Physician burnout was associated with an increased risk of patient safety incidents (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.59-2.40), poorer quality of care due to low professionalism (OR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.87-2.85), and reduced patient satisfaction (OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.42-3.68). The heterogeneity was high and the study quality was low to moderate. The links between burnout and low professionalism were larger in residents and early-career (≤5 years post residency) physicians compared with middle- and late-career physicians (Cohen Q = 7.27; P = .003). The reporting method of patient safety incidents and professionalism (physician-reported vs system-recorded) significantly influenced the main results (Cohen Q = 8.14; P = .007).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

This meta-analysis provides evidence that physician burnout may jeopardize patient care; reversal of this risk has to be viewed as a fundamental health care policy goal across the globe. Health care organizations are encouraged to invest in efforts to improve physician wellness, particularly for early-career physicians. The methods of recording patient care quality and safety outcomes require improvements to concisely capture the outcome of burnout on the performance of health care organizations.

Patient-mediated interventions to improve professional practice

BACKGROUND

Healthcare professionals are important contributors to healthcare quality and patient safety, but their performance does not always follow recommended clinical practice. There are many approaches to influencing practice among healthcare professionals. These approaches include audit and feedback, reminders, educational materials, educational outreach visits, educational meetings or conferences, use of local opinion leaders, financial incentives, and organisational interventions. In this review, we evaluated the effectiveness of patient-mediated interventions. These interventions are aimed at changing the performance of healthcare professionals through interactions with patients, or through information provided by or to patients. Examples of patient-mediated interventions include 1) patient-reported health information, 2) patient information, 3) patient education, 4) patient feedback about clinical practice, 5) patient decision aids, 6) patients, or patient representatives, being members of a committee or board, and 7) patient-led training or education of healthcare professionals.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effectiveness of patient-mediated interventions on healthcare professionals' performance (adherence to clinical practice guidelines or recommendations for clinical practice).

SEARCH METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, Ovid in March 2018, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in March 2017, and ClinicalTrials.gov and the International Clinical Trials Registry (ICTRP) in September 2017, and OpenGrey, the Grey Literature Report and Google Scholar in October 2017. We also screened the reference lists of included studies and conducted cited reference searches for all included studies in October 2017.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Randomised studies comparing patient-mediated interventions to either usual care or other interventions to improve professional practice.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently assessed studies for inclusion, extracted data and assessed risk of bias. We calculated the risk ratio (RR) for dichotomous outcomes using Mantel-Haenszel statistics and the random-effects model. For continuous outcomes, we calculated the mean difference (MD) using inverse variance statistics. Two review authors independently assessed the certainty of the evidence (GRADE).

MAIN RESULTS

We included 25 studies with a total of 12,268 patients. The number of healthcare professionals included in the studies ranged from 12 to 167 where this was reported. The included studies evaluated four types of patient-mediated interventions: 1) patient-reported health information interventions (for instance information obtained from patients about patients' own health, concerns or needs before a clinical encounter), 2) patient information interventions (for instance, where patients are informed about, or reminded to attend recommended care), 3) patient education interventions (intended to increase patients' knowledge about their condition and options of care, for instance), and 4) patient decision aids (where the patient is provided with information about treatment options including risks and benefits). For each type of patient-mediated intervention a separate meta-analysis was produced.Patient-reported health information interventions probably improve healthcare professionals' adherence to recommended clinical practice (moderate-certainty evidence). We found that for every 100 patients consulted or treated, 26 (95% CI 23 to 30) are in accordance with recommended clinical practice compared to 17 per 100 in the comparison group (no intervention or usual care). We are uncertain about the effect of patient-reported health information interventions on desirable patient health outcomes and patient satisfaction (very low-certainty evidence). Undesirable patient health outcomes and adverse events were not reported in the included studies and resource use was poorly reported.Patient information interventions may improve healthcare professionals' adherence to recommended clinical practice (low-certainty evidence). We found that for every 100 patients consulted or treated, 32 (95% CI 24 to 42) are in accordance with recommended clinical practice compared to 20 per 100 in the comparison group (no intervention or usual care). Patient information interventions may have little or no effect on desirable patient health outcomes and patient satisfaction (low-certainty evidence). We are uncertain about the effect of patient information interventions on undesirable patient health outcomes because the certainty of the evidence is very low. Adverse events and resource use were not reported in the included studies.Patient education interventions probably improve healthcare professionals' adherence to recommended clinical practice (moderate-certainty evidence). We found that for every 100 patients consulted or treated, 46 (95% CI 39 to 54) are in accordance with recommended clinical practice compared to 35 per 100 in the comparison group (no intervention or usual care). Patient education interventions may slightly increase the number of patients with desirable health outcomes (low-certainty evidence). Undesirable patient health outcomes, patient satisfaction, adverse events and resource use were not reported in the included studies.Patient decision aid interventions may have little or no effect on healthcare professionals' adherence to recommended clinical practice (low-certainty evidence). We found that for every 100 patients consulted or treated, 32 (95% CI 24 to 43) are in accordance with recommended clinical practice compared to 37 per 100 in the comparison group (usual care). Patient health outcomes, patient satisfaction, adverse events and resource use were not reported in the included studies.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

We found that two types of patient-mediated interventions, patient-reported health information and patient education, probably improve professional practice by increasing healthcare professionals' adherence to recommended clinical practice (moderate-certainty evidence). We consider the effect to be small to moderate. Other patient-mediated interventions, such as patient information may also improve professional practice (low-certainty evidence). Patient decision aids may make little or no difference to the number of healthcare professionals' adhering to recommended clinical practice (low-certainty evidence).The impact of these interventions on patient health and satisfaction, adverse events and resource use, is more uncertain mostly due to very low certainty evidence or lack of evidence.