Background: Clinicians often encounter information about drug-drug interactions (DDIs) during clinical practice.\r\nThis information is found within product information (hardcopy and electronic) and various electronic systems.\r\nPrescribers may receive medication-related communications in practice that are distributed by facsimile (fax), mail,\r\nor telephone from pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The purpose of this study was to determine\r\nif near-real time fax alerts for potential drug-drug interactions (PDDIs) would influence prescribing.\r\nMethods: A prospective study, in cooperation with a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), was conducted targeting\r\n18 clinically important PDDIs. Fax alerts included an individualized letter to the prescriber with a list of the\r\ninteracting drugs, PDDI evidence summaries with citations, and recommended clinical management strategies.\r\nAmong the 18 PDDIs, 13 PDDIs could be assessed for prescription therapy changes using pharmacy claims data. A\r\nprospective cohort design was used to evaluate changes in prescription dispensing 90-days following a PDDI fax\r\nalert.\r\nResults: A total of 8,075 fax alerts were sent to prescribers and there were 4,712 alerts for the 13 PDDIs that could\r\nbe assessed for change using pharmacy claims data. There were 2,019 patients (interventions) for which fax alerts\r\nwere sent to their prescribers who were matched with a control group consisting of patients with the same PDDIs\r\nbut for whom no fax alert was sent. Overall, this study found 154 (7.6%) of patients in the fax alert group compared\r\nto 132 (6.5%) in the control group had changes in therapy (p = 0.177).\r\nConclusions: This fax alert intervention program observed no statistically significant differences in prescribing with\r\na fax alert compared to the control group. If PBMs chose to send individualized, evidence-based information to\r\nclinicians regarding drug-drug interactions, this study suggests it may not be an effective intervention to mitigate\r\nharm.
Loading....