A randomised controlled trial of feedback to general practitioners of their prophylactic aspirin prescribing

• HIT Description: Computerized decision support with reminders. More info...
  
• Purpose of Study: Evaluate a feedback of general practitioners' computerized data on aspirin prescribing aimed at increasing coded aspirin prescribing in patients with heart ischemic disease.
  
• Years of study: Not Available
  
• Study Design: RCT
  
• Outcomes: Impact on health care effectivness/quality
  

• Settings: Forty-eight general practitioner's practices in north London, UK participated in the study.
• Intervention: Computerized intervention practices, which receive feedback on their prescribing of aspirin for patients with ischemic heart disease were compared to computerized control practices, which receive feedback on their prescribing of hormone replacement therapy for women who had had hysterectomies.
• Evaluation Method: Measure of prophylactic aspirin prescribing patients with heart ischemic disease.
• Description: All practices used the ÒEMISÓ computer system except two that used ÒParadocÓ, and they had computerized information on hysterectomies and ischemic heart disease and use their systems for repeat prescribing.
• Quality of Care and Patient Safety Outcome: The prescribed daily aspirin before and after the intervention rose from 787/1646 (47.8%) to 1004/1725 (58.2%) in the intervention practices, compared with 567/1167 (48.6%) to 610/1220 (50.0%) in the control practices (P0.001).