Stephen D Persell1,2, Tiffany Brown3, Jason N Doctor4,5, Craig R Fox6, Noah J Goldstein6, Steven M Handler7,8, Joseph T Hanlon7,8, Ji Young Lee3, Jeffrey A Linder3,9, Daniella Meeker4,5, Theresa A Rowe3, Mark D Sullivan10, Mark W Friedberg11. 1. Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 750 N. Lake Shore Dr., 10th floor, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA. spersell@nm.org. 2. Center for Primary Care Innovation, Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. spersell@nm.org. 3. Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 750 N. Lake Shore Dr., 10th floor, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA. 4. Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA. 5. Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. 6. UCLA Anderson School of Management, UCLA Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA. 7. Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. 8. Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center/Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Health System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. 9. Center for Primary Care Innovation, Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. 10. Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. 11. Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, RAND Corporation, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Inappropriate polypharmacy, prevalent among older patients, is associated with substantial harms. OBJECTIVE: To develop measures of high-risk polypharmacy and pilot test novel electronic health record (EHR)-based nudges grounded in behavioral science to promote deprescribing. DESIGN: We developed and validated seven measures, then conducted a three-arm pilot from February to May 2019. PARTICIPANTS: Validation used data from 78,880 patients from a single large health system. Six physicians were pre-pilot test environment users. Sixty-nine physicians participated in the pilot. MAIN MEASURES: Rate of high-risk polypharmacy among patients aged 65 years or older. High-risk polypharmacy was defined as being prescribed ≥5 medications and satisfying ≥1 of the following high-risk criteria: drugs that increase fall risk among patients with fall history; drug-drug interactions that increase fall risk; thiazolidinedione, NSAID, or non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker in heart failure; and glyburide, glimepiride, or NSAID in chronic kidney disease. INTERVENTIONS: Physicians received EHR alerts when renewing or prescribing certain high-risk medications when criteria were met. One practice received a "commitment nudge" that offered a chance to commit to addressing high-risk polypharmacy at the next visit. One practice received a "justification nudge" that asked for a reason when high-risk polypharmacy was present. One practice received both. KEY RESULTS: Among 55,107 patients 65 and older prescribed 5 or more medications, 6256 (7.9%) had one or more high-risk criteria. During the pilot, the mean (SD) number of nudges per physician per week was 1.7 (0.4) for commitment, 0.8 (0.5) for justification, and 1.9 (0.5) for both interventions. Physicians requested to be reminded to address high-risk polypharmacy for 236/833 (28.3%) of the commitment nudges and acknowledged 441 of 460 (95.9%) of justification nudges, providing a text response for 187 (40.7%). CONCLUSIONS: EHR-based measures and nudges addressing high-risk polypharmacy were feasible to develop and implement, and warrant further testing.
BACKGROUND: Inappropriate polypharmacy, prevalent among older patients, is associated with substantial harms. OBJECTIVE: To develop measures of high-risk polypharmacy and pilot test novel electronic health record (EHR)-based nudges grounded in behavioral science to promote deprescribing. DESIGN: We developed and validated seven measures, then conducted a three-arm pilot from February to May 2019. PARTICIPANTS: Validation used data from 78,880 patients from a single large health system. Six physicians were pre-pilot test environment users. Sixty-nine physicians participated in the pilot. MAIN MEASURES: Rate of high-risk polypharmacy among patients aged 65 years or older. High-risk polypharmacy was defined as being prescribed ≥5 medications and satisfying ≥1 of the following high-risk criteria: drugs that increase fall risk among patients with fall history; drug-drug interactions that increase fall risk; thiazolidinedione, NSAID, or non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker in heart failure; and glyburide, glimepiride, or NSAID in chronic kidney disease. INTERVENTIONS: Physicians received EHR alerts when renewing or prescribing certain high-risk medications when criteria were met. One practice received a "commitment nudge" that offered a chance to commit to addressing high-risk polypharmacy at the next visit. One practice received a "justification nudge" that asked for a reason when high-risk polypharmacy was present. One practice received both. KEY RESULTS: Among 55,107 patients 65 and older prescribed 5 or more medications, 6256 (7.9%) had one or more high-risk criteria. During the pilot, the mean (SD) number of nudges per physician per week was 1.7 (0.4) for commitment, 0.8 (0.5) for justification, and 1.9 (0.5) for both interventions. Physicians requested to be reminded to address high-risk polypharmacy for 236/833 (28.3%) of the commitment nudges and acknowledged 441 of 460 (95.9%) of justification nudges, providing a text response for 187 (40.7%). CONCLUSIONS: EHR-based measures and nudges addressing high-risk polypharmacy were feasible to develop and implement, and warrant further testing.
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Authors: Tiffany Brown; Brittany Zelch; Ji Young Lee; Jason N Doctor; Jeffrey A Linder; Mark D Sullivan; Noah J Goldstein; Theresa A Rowe; Daniella Meeker; Tara Knight; Mark W Friedberg; Stephen D Persell Journal: Appl Clin Inform Date: 2022-09-07 Impact factor: 2.762