Information Systems-enabled Outreach Program for Adverse Drug Events

One of the most common health care interventions in any healthcare setting is a medication prescription. Unfortunately, up to 25% of outpatient prescriptions are associated with adverse drug events (ADEs). ADEs decrease patient health directly and can lead to non-adherence, which in turn has negative consequences. The investigators recently conducted a pilot project in which the feasibility and potential utility of an information technology enabled outreach program for monitoring patients receiving an outpatient prescription was tested. This intervention involved the use of an interactive voice response system programmed to automatically call ambulatory care patients following a prescription. If the system identified a potential medication problem, a pharmacist was notified who contacted the patient, modified the therapy accordingly, and informed a physician when necessary. The pilot project included 568 patients with diverse illnesses in two Canadian cities. High levels of patient and provider acceptability of the system were determined from 21 day interviews. The program identified 56 of 125 (45%) ADEs and 10 of 26 (30%) of primary non-compliance events. Very few episodes of ameliorable ADEs were observed. The investigators feel these results justify a randomized control trial to assess the effectiveness of the intervention for improving patient centered outcomes. Ambulatory care patients receiving incident prescriptions for one of four conditions (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, depression, and anxiety) will be randomized to the intervention or routine care. The investigators expect that the system will reduce the severity and duration of outpatient ADEs and improve adherence to medication care.