These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed


  • Title: How pharmacists respond to on-line, real-time DUR alerts.
    Author: Armstrong EP, Denemark CR.
    Journal: J Am Pharm Assoc (Wash); 1998; 38(2):149-54. PubMed ID: 9654846.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVE: To quantify the type and frequency of drug utilization review (DUR) alerts sent by one claims processor to pharmacists; identify how pharmacists respond to these on-line, real-time DUR messages; and quantify the interventions taken by these pharmacists as a result of these alerts. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of Medicaid claims from July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996. SETTING: State of Delaware. PARTICIPANTS: 55,000 Medicaid recipients served by 170 participating pharmacies and 2,000 physicians. INTERVENTIONS: All on-line DUR alerts sent to pharmacists and the pharmacists' responses were categorized by alert type and analyzed by drug class. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pharmacists' response (dispensed prescription, contacted prescriber, talked with patient, consulted own reference sources) and drug classes. RESULTS: During the study period, 807,017 claims generated 83,260 DUR alerts involving 73,554 (9.1%) prescriptions. Prescriptions were not dispensed in 20.9% of cases because of the DUR message. Prescriptions were dispensed 17.7% of the time after the pharmacist contacted the prescriber, in 20.6% of cases after the pharmacist talked with the patient, and 37.2% of the time after reviewing internal resources. Action taken by pharmacists varied among and within DUR criteria categories. Specific examples of alerts generated in high-frequency and high-profile areas are reviewed, some of which generated inconsistent responses. CONCLUSION: Among Delaware Medicaid providers, drug alerts resulted in pharmacists not dispensing prescriptions in a surprising percentage of situations. Pharmacists' responses varied according to the drug class involved and the type of alert received.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]