A controlled trial to improve delivery of preventive care: physician or patient reminders?

• HIT Description: Electronic health record and a computerized prevention reminder system. More info...
  
• Purpose of Study: Evaluate the influence of a computerized reminder system in the delivery of preventive care.
  
• Years of study: 1984
  
• Study Design: Cntrl. Before/After
  
• Outcomes: Impact on health care effectivness/quality
  

• Settings: Thirty-nine junior and senior medical residents participated in the study that was conducted at a university hospital-based, general medical clinic.
• Intervention: The three interventions were: a computerized reminder system for physicians; a patient questionnaire and educational hand-out on preventive care; and both.
• Evaluation Method: Measures of preventive services.
• Quality of Care and Patient Safety Outcome: Delivery of five of six audited preventive services improved significantly after the interventions were introduced. The computerized reminder alone increased completion rates of services that relied primarily on physician initiative; the questionnaire alone increased completion rate of the service that depended more on patient compliance as well as on some physician-dependent services. Both interventions used together were slightly less effective in improving performance of physician-dependent services than the computerized reminder used alone.