Abstract
Background. General practice accounts for the vast majority of drug prescribing in the Nordic countries. Various methods have been used to promote rational drug prescribing. Awareness of own prescribing profile may be a first crucial step in the quality assessment and improvement process.Aim of the study. To analyse awareness among general practitioners of their drug prescribing profile during two outreach visits one year apart.Methods. All 94 practices with a total of 166 general practitioners in the former Storstrøm County, Denmark, were invited to participate in a project launching outreach visits led by a general practitioner; 88 practices with 160 general practitioners agreed to participate.Results. During the first round of outreach visits the general practitioners were asked to rate their own prescribing level of 13 major drug groups as being in the lowest 25%, the middle 26%–74%, or the highest 25% of the distribution across all 88 practices. The result was better than chance (chi-square = 337, 4 df, r = 0.37, both P < 0.0001). After the assessment a one-hour discussion on rational drug prescribing was held. One year later a new round of outreach visits was held. This time the assessment accuracy was generally greatly improved (chi-square = 724, 4 df, r = 0.48, both P < 0.0001). The main determinants for the improved accuracy during the second round were high accuracy during the first round, and the number of general practitioners in the practice.Conclusions. General practitioners' awareness of their prescribing volumes was substantially improved by a single outreach visit with discussion on rational drug prescribing.
Highlights
General practice accounts for the vast majority of all drug prescribing in Denmark, as in the other Nordic countries [1,2]
Various methods have been used in order to promote rational drug prescribing among general practitioners (GPs)
GPs’ awareness of their own prescribing profiles, even though such awareness may be a crucial step in the quality assessment and improvement process
Summary
General practice accounts for the vast majority of all drug prescribing in Denmark, as in the other Nordic countries [1,2]. The estimates on the form were compared with the actual prescribing levels based on register data, and the number of accurate answers registered During this process rational drug prescribing regarding the drug group in question was discussed in general terms as an important element of the outreach visit. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to analyse the influence of potential determinants on the change of assessments from the first to the second rounds, using the second assessment as the dependent variable and, as independent variables, the assessment during the first round, GP’s age and sex, practice type (solo or group practice), number of years of experience as a GP, number of GPs in the practice, access to electronic patient record system, duration of the outreach visit, the GPs’ ratings of the outreach visits, and the GP facilitator’s ratings of the participating GPs’ attitudes. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
