Factors Affecting Stress Levels in Attendants Accompanying Patients to Emergency Department.

Introduction: Staff in emergency departments work in an environment where they are continuously exposed to situations with aggressive patients and their caretakers. With increasing incidents of reported violence, the present study was conducted to identify factors associated with stress levels among patients' attendants. Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional, observational study was conducted among 256 attendants of patients presenting to Emergency Department (ED). Signs of stress and imminent violence were recorded using STAMP method at initial encounter. Stress levels were assessed using Perceived Stress Scale 10 and Visual Analog Scale at the end of 2 h during patient's stay in emergency department. Factors associated with stress were studied using linear regression analysis. There was a follow-up to estimate the level of stress, to identify risk factors and types of violence in the sample population. Results: 98.9% of attendants exhibited some form of stress. Age of <40 years, female gender, single marital status, lower educational background, lack of previous experience with ED, perceived long waiting time, and first-degree relatives were the significant risk factors associated with high stress. Verbal aggression was the most common and frequent form of aggression. Noncritically ill patient attendants, no previous experience with EDs, graduates, middle age group, perceived long waiting time, and poor patient response to treatment were found to be risk factors for impending violence. Conclusion: Stress was exhibited in majority of caregivers. Further programs are needed to strengthen training for ED staff to identify early and impending violence and to develop coping mechanisms for well-being of both attendants and health-care professionals.

Bladder cancer with pioglitazone: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Varied reports suggest a contentious relationship of bladder malignancy with pioglitazone in patients with type 2 diabetes. AIM: To study an association (prevalence and predictors) of bladder malignancy with pioglitazone therapy in Asian-Indian type 2 diabetes patients. METHOD: In this observational multicenter study, type 2 diabetic patients attending out-patient diabetes-clinic were evaluated. A detailed history of anti-diabetic medication, dose, duration, pioglitazone usage, time since initiation of pioglitazone, physical examination, biochemical tests and details pertaining to prevalent neuropathy, retinopathy and nephropathy were recorded. Details of bladder cancer or any malignancy (if present), time since diagnosis, risk factors for bladder cancer and histopathology records were noted. The study cohort was divided into two groups-pioglitazone ever users (Group A) and never users (Group B). RESULTS: A total of 8000 patients were screened out of which 1560 were excluded. Among 6440 included patients, 1056 (16.3%) patients were in group A and 5384 (83.6%) group B. Patients on pioglitazone were older (59.1 vs 57.7 years, p < 0.001), had longer duration of diabetes (12.7 vs 10.6 years, p < 0.001) with poor glycemic control (HbA1c 8.5 vs 8.3%, p < 0.01). A total of 74 patients had prevalent bladder cancer [16 (1.5%) in Group A and 58 in Group B (1.0%)]. Prevalent bladder cancer was not significantly greater in ever-users (odds ratio OR = 1.29, 95% confidence interval CI, 0.83-2.00) compared to never-users (odds ratio OR = 0.94, 95% confidence interval CI, 0.834-1.061) of pioglitazone (p = 0.207). However, history of hematuria in pioglitazone-users; while older age (>58 year), history of smoking and hematuria in the whole cohort were significant associated with bladder cancer. In the entire study cohort, 254 patients; 3.5% of males (128 out of 3575) and 4.6% of females (126 out of 2713) developed any malignancy. Age was significantly associated with prevalent malignancy in people with diabetes (odds ratio OR 1.036, 95% confidence interval CI: 1.022-1.051, p = 0.00) on multivariate forward regression. CONCLUSION: Pioglitazone use in Asian-Indians is not associated with an increased bladder cancer risk. However, pioglitazone should be restricted in individuals with history of hematuria. Age more than 58 years is a significant risk factor for development of any malignancy, particularly bladder cancer.

Algorithmic Detection of Boolean Logic Errors in Clinical Decision Support Statements.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical decision support (CDS) can contribute to quality and safety. Prior work has shown that errors in CDS systems are common and can lead to unintended consequences. Many CDS systems use Boolean logic, which can be difficult for CDS analysts to specify accurately. We set out to determine the prevalence of certain types of Boolean logic errors in CDS statements. METHODS: Nine health care organizations extracted Boolean logic statements from their Epic electronic health record (EHR). We developed an open-source software tool, which implemented the Espresso logic minimization algorithm, to identify three classes of logic errors. RESULTS: Participating organizations submitted 260,698 logic statements, of which 44,890 were minimized by Espresso. We found errors in 209 of them. Every participating organization had at least two errors, and all organizations reported that they would act on the feedback. DISCUSSION: An automated algorithm can readily detect specific categories of Boolean CDS logic errors. These errors represent a minority of CDS errors, but very likely require correction to avoid patient safety issues. This process found only a few errors at each site, but the problem appears to be widespread, affecting all participating organizations. CONCLUSION: Both CDS implementers and EHR vendors should consider implementing similar algorithms as part of the CDS authoring process to reduce the number of errors in their CDS interventions.

Structured override reasons for drug-drug interaction alerts in electronic health records.

OBJECTIVE: The study sought to determine availability and use of structured override reasons for drug-drug interaction (DDI) alerts in electronic health records. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected data on DDI alerts and override reasons from 10 clinical sites across the United States using a variety of electronic health records. We used a multistage iterative card sort method to categorize the override reasons from all sites and identified best practices. RESULTS: Our methodology established 177 unique override reasons across the 10 sites. The number of coded override reasons at each site ranged from 3 to 100. Many sites offered override reasons not relevant to DDIs. Twelve categories of override reasons were identified. Three categories accounted for 78% of all overrides: "will monitor or take precautions," "not clinically significant," and "benefit outweighs risk." DISCUSSION: We found wide variability in override reasons between sites and many opportunities to improve alerts. Some override reasons were irrelevant to DDIs. Many override reasons attested to a future action (eg, decreasing a dose or ordering monitoring tests), which requires an additional step after the alert is overridden, unless the alert is made actionable. Some override reasons deferred to another party, although override reasons often are not visible to other users. Many override reasons stated that the alert was inaccurate, suggesting that specificity of alerts could be improved. CONCLUSIONS: Organizations should improve the options available to providers who choose to override DDI alerts. DDI alerting systems should be actionable and alerts should be tailored to the patient and drug pairs.

Integrity of clinical information in computerized order requisitions for diagnostic imaging.

Objective: Assess information integrity (concordance and completeness of documented exam indications from the electronic health record [EHR] imaging order requisition, compared to EHR provider notes), and assess potential impact of indication inaccuracies on exam planning and interpretation. Methods: This retrospective study, approved by the Institutional Review Board, was conducted at a tertiary academic medical center. There were 139 MRI lumbar spine (LS-MRI) and 176 CT abdomen/pelvis orders performed 4/1/2016-5/31/2016 randomly selected and reviewed by 4 radiologists for concordance and completeness of relevant exam indications in order requisitions compared to provider notes, and potential impact of indication inaccuracies on exam planning and interpretation. Forty each LS-MRI and CT abdomen/pelvis were re-reviewed to assess kappa agreement. Results: Requisition indications were more likely to be incomplete (256/315, 81%) than discordant (133/315, 42%) compared to provider notes (p < 0.0001). Potential impact of discrepancy between clinical information in requisitions and provider notes was higher for radiologist's interpretation than for exam planning (135/315, 43%, vs 25/315, 8%, p < 0.0001). Agreement among radiologists for concordance, completeness, and potential impact was moderate to strong (Kappa 0.66-0.89). Indications in EHR order requisitions are frequently incomplete or discordant compared to physician notes, potentially impacting imaging exam planning, interpretation and accurate diagnosis. Such inaccuracies could also diminish the relevance of clinical decision support alerts if based on information in order requisitions. Conclusions: Improved availability of relevant documented clinical information within EHR imaging requisition is necessary for optimal exam planning and interpretation.

Pharmacokinetics of colistin in patients with multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections: A pilot study.

Background & objectives: There is little information concerning intravenously (i.v.) administered colistin in patients with multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative infections. Thus, this pilot prospective study was undertaken to characterize efficacy and pharmacokinetics of colistin in patients with MDR Gram-negative infections. Methods: Nine patients with age >12 yr and MDR Gram-negative infections were included, of whom six were given colistin at the doses of 2 MU, while three patients were given 1 MU i.v. dose every 8 h. Blood samples were collected at different time intervals. Determination of colistin concentration was done by a ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry/selected reaction monitoring assay. Results: The area under the plasma concentration-versus-time curve over eight hours (AUC0-8) for colistin after the 1st dose ranged from 3.3 to 16.4 mg×h/l (median, 4.59). After the 5th dose, AUC0-8for colistin ranged from 4.4 to 15.8 mg×h/l (median, 6.0). With minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 0.125 mg/l, AUC0-8/MIC ranged from 26.7 to 131.4 (median, 36.7) and 35.5 to 126.0 (median, 48.0) after the 1st and the 5th doses of 2 MU every 8 h, respectively. Interpretation & conclusions: As there is a paucity of information on AUC/MIC for colistin, it may not be possible to conclude whether AUC/MIC values in our patients were adequate. There is a microbiological clearance of organism, which goes in favour of the dosing schedule being adequate. Further studies need to be done to understand the pharmacokinetics of colistin in patients with infections.

Medicare Imaging Demonstration: Assessing Attributes of Appropriate Use Criteria and Their Influence on Ordering Behavior.

OBJECTIVE: Persistent concern exists about the variable and possibly inappropriate utilization of high-cost imaging tests. The purpose of this study is to assess the influence of appropriate use criteria attributes on altering ambulatory imaging orders deemed inappropriate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This secondary analysis included Medicare Imaging Demonstration data collected from three health care systems in 2011-2013 via the use of clinical decision support (CDS) during ambulatory imaging order entry. The CDS system captured whether orders were inappropriate per the appropriate use criteria of professional societies and provided advice during the intervention period. For orders deemed inappropriate, we assessed the impact of the availability of alternative test recommendations, conflicts with local best practices, and the strength of evidence for appropriate use criteria on the primary outcome of cancellation or modification of inappropriate orders. Expert review determined conflicts with local best practices for 250 recommendations for abdominal and thoracic CT orders. Strength of evidence was assessed for the 15 most commonly triggered recommendations that were deemed inappropriate. A chi-square test was used for univariate analysis. RESULTS: A total of 1691 of 63,222 imaging test orders (2.7%) were deemed inappropriate during the intervention period; this amount decreased from 364 of 11,675 test orders (3.1%) in the baseline period (p < 0.00001). Of 270 inappropriate recommendations with alternative test recommendations, 28 (10.4%) were modified, compared with four of 1024 inappropriate recommendations without alternatives (0.4%) (p < 0.0001). Seventy-eight of 250 recommendations (31%) conflicted with local best practices, but only six of 69 inappropriate recommendations (9%) conflicted (p < 0.001). No inappropriate recommendations that conflicted with local best practices were modified. All 15 commonly triggered recommendations had an Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine level of evidence of 5 (i.e., expert opinion). CONCLUSION: Orders for imaging tests that were deemed inappropriate were modified infrequently, more often with alternative recommendations present and only for appropriate use criteria consistent with local best practices.

Variation in high-priority drug-drug interaction alerts across institutions and electronic health records.

Objective: The United States Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology sponsored the development of a "high-priority" list of drug-drug interactions (DDIs) to be used for clinical decision support. We assessed current adoption of this list and current alerting practice for these DDIs with regard to alert implementation (presence or absence of an alert) and display (alert appearance as interruptive or passive). Materials and methods: We conducted evaluations of electronic health records (EHRs) at a convenience sample of health care organizations across the United States using a standardized testing protocol with simulated orders. Results: Evaluations of 19 systems were conducted at 13 sites using 14 different EHRs. Across systems, 69% of the high-priority DDI pairs produced alerts. Implementation and display of the DDI alerts tested varied between systems, even when the same EHR vendor was used. Across the drug pairs evaluated, implementation and display of DDI alerts differed, ranging from 27% (4/15) to 93% (14/15) implementation. Discussion: Currently, there is no standard of care covering which DDI alerts to implement or how to display them to providers. Opportunities to improve DDI alerting include using differential displays based on DDI severity, establishing improved lists of clinically significant DDIs, and thoroughly reviewing organizational implementation decisions regarding DDIs. Conclusion: DDI alerting is clinically important but not standardized. There is significant room for improvement and standardization around evidence-based DDIs.

JOURNAL CLUB: Predictors of Provider Response to Clinical Decision Support: Lessons Learned From the Medicare Imaging Demonstration.

OBJECTIVE: The efficacy of imaging clinical decision support (CDS) varies. Our objective was to identify CDS factors contributing to imaging order cancellation or modification. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This pre-post study was performed across four institutions participating in the Medicare Imaging Demonstration. The intervention was CDS at order entry for selected outpatient imaging procedures. On the basis of the information entered, computerized alerts indicated to providers whether orders were not covered by guidelines, appropriate, of uncertain appropriateness, or inappropriate according to professional society guidelines. Ordering providers could override or accept CDS. We considered actionable alerts to be those that could generate an immediate order behavior change in the ordering physician (i.e., cancellation of inappropriate orders or modification of orders of uncertain appropriateness that had a recommended alternative). Chi-square and logistic regression identified predictors of order cancellation or modification after an alert. RESULTS: A total of 98,894 radiology orders were entered (83,114 after the intervention). Providers ignored 98.9%, modified 1.1%, and cancelled 0.03% of orders in response to alerts. Actionable alerts had a 10 fold higher rate of modification (8.1% vs 0.7%; p < 0.0001) or cancellation (0.2% vs 0.02%; p < 0.0001) orders compared with nonactionable alerts. Orders from institutions with preexisting imaging CDS had a sevenfold lower rate of cancellation or modification than was seen at sites with newly implemented CDS (1.4% vs 0.2%; p < 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, actionable alerts were 12 times more likely to result in order cancellation or modification. Orders at sites with preexisting CDS were 7.7 times less likely to be cancelled or modified (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Using results from the Medicare Imaging Demonstration project, we identified potential factors that were associated with CDS effect on provider imaging ordering; these findings may have implications for future design of such computerized systems.

Effects of an e-Prescribing interface redesign on rates of generic drug prescribing: exploiting default options.

OBJECTIVE: Increasing the use of generic medications could help control medical costs. However, educational interventions have limited impact on prescriber behavior, and e-prescribing alerts are associated with high override rates and alert fatigue. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of a less intrusive intervention, a redesign of an e-prescribing interface that provides default options intended to "nudge" prescribers towards prescribing generic drugs. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study in an academic ambulatory multispecialty practice assessed the effects of customizing an e-prescribing interface to substitute generic equivalents for brand-name medications during order entry and allow a one-click override to order the brand-name medication. RESULTS: Among drugs with generic equivalents, the proportion of generic drugs prescribed more than doubled after the interface redesign, rising abruptly from 39.7% to 95.9% (a 56.2% increase; 95% confidence interval, 56.0-56.4%; P < .001). Before the redesign, generic drug prescribing rates varied by therapeutic class, with rates as low as 8.6% for genitourinary products and 15.7% for neuromuscular drugs. After the redesign, generic drug prescribing rates for all but four therapeutic classes were above 90%: endocrine drugs, neuromuscular drugs, nutritional products, and miscellaneous products. DISCUSSION: Changing the default option in an e-prescribing interface in an ambulatory care setting was followed by large and sustained increases in the proportion of generic drugs prescribed at the practice. CONCLUSIONS: Default options in health information technology exert a powerful effect on user behavior, an effect that can be leveraged to optimize decision making.

Indian Psychiatric Society multicentric study on assessment of health-care needs of patients with severe mental illnesses as perceived by their family caregivers and health-care providers.

AIM: To study the health-care needs of the patients with severe mental disorders as perceived by their family caregivers and the treating psychiatrists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Caregivers of patients with severe mental disorders and their treating psychiatrists were assessed using Camberwell Assessment of Need-Research Version (CAN-R) scale and indigenously designed Supplementary Assessment of Needs Scale (SNAS). RESULTS: The study included 1494 patients recruited from 15 centers. The mean needs as per the CAN-R, perceived by the caregivers were 7.8 and treating psychiatrists were 8.1. About one-third of needs were unmet. On SNAS, both caregivers and treating psychiatrists reported a mean of 7.9 needs, of which more than half were unmet as per the caregivers. As per the treating psychiatrists, 45.5% of the needs as assessed on SNAS were unmet. There was a high level of correlation between needs perceived by the patients, caregivers and the treating psychiatrists. On CAN-R, main domains of needs as reported by the caregivers were those of money, relief of psychological distress, information about the illness and treatment, welfare benefits, transport, company and food. As per the treating psychiatrists, the most common total needs identified were those of relief of psychological distress, welfare benefits, information about the illness and treatment, money, transport, company self-care and physical health. The most common domains of needs as assessed on SNAS as per the caregivers were those of free treatment, medical reimbursement, psychoeducation, financial help, social support, insurance, more time from the clinicians and travel concession. The treating psychiatrists identified dealing with caregiver's stress as the most common need. CONCLUSIONS: According to the family caregivers and treating psychiatrists, about one-third of the needs of the patients as assessed using CAN-R and about half of the needs as assessed using SNAS are unmet.

Indian Psychiatric Society multicentric study on assessment of health-care needs of patients with severe mental illnesses.

AIM: To assess the health-care needs of the patients with severe mental disorders. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with the diagnosis of a severe mental disorder (schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, recurrent depressive disorder, major depressive disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder) were assessed using Camberwell Assessment of Need-Research version (CAN-R) Scale and indigenously designed Supplementary Needs Assessment Scale (SNAS). RESULTS: The study included 1494 patients recruited from 15 centers. The most common diagnostic group was that of affective disorders (55.3%), followed by psychotic disorders (37.6%). The mean number of total needs as perceived by the patients was 7.6 on the CAN-R. About two-third of the needs as assessed on CAN-R were met, and one-third were unmet. On CAN-R, main domains of needs as reported by patients were those of money, welfare benefits, transport, information about the illness and treatment, relief of psychological distress, company, household skills and intimate relationships. On SNAS, the mean number of total needs as perceived by the patients was 7.6 of which 4.1 were met needs. The most common domains of needs as assessed on SNAS were those of financial help, medical reimbursement, psychoeducation, free treatment, certification of mental illness, flexible work/job timings, addressing the caregiver stress and legal aid. CONCLUSION: About two-third of the needs, of the patients with severe mental disorders are met as assessed using CAN-R. However, higher percentages of unmet needs are identified on SNAS. In view of the commonly reported needs, a change in the orientation of services offered to people with mental disorders is very much called for. At the government level, desired policies must be formulated to support the patients with mental disorders.

Multimodal monitoring in the pediatric intensive care unit: new modalities and informatics challenges.

We review several newer modalities to monitor the brain in children with acute neurologic disease in the pediatric intensive care unit, such as partial brain tissue oxygen tension (PbtO2), jugular venous oxygen saturation (SjvO2), near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), thermal diffusion measurement of cerebral blood flow, cerebral microdialysis, and EEG. We then discuss the informatics challenges to acquire, consolidate, analyze, and display the data. Acquisition includes multiple data types: discrete, waveform, and continuous. Consolidation requires device interoperability and time synchronization. Analysis could include pressure reactivity index and quantitative EEG. Displays should communicate the patient's current status, longitudinal and trend information, and critical alarms.

A long-term follow-up evaluation of electronic health record prescribing safety.

OBJECTIVE: To be eligible for incentives through the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program, many providers using older or locally developed EHRs will be transitioning to new, commercial EHRs. We previously evaluated prescribing errors made by providers in the first year following transition from a locally developed EHR with minimal prescribing clinical decision support (CDS) to a commercial EHR with robust CDS. Following system refinements, we conducted this study to assess the rates and types of errors 2 years after transition and determine the evolution of errors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a mixed methods cross-sectional case study of 16 physicians at an academic-affiliated ambulatory clinic from April to June 2010. We utilized standardized prescription and chart review to identify errors. Fourteen providers also participated in interviews. RESULTS: We analyzed 1905 prescriptions. The overall prescribing error rate was 3.8 per 100 prescriptions (95% CI 2.8 to 5.1). Error rates were significantly lower 2 years after transition (p<0.001 compared to pre-implementation, 12 weeks and 1 year after transition). Rates of near misses remained unchanged. Providers positively appreciated most system refinements, particularly reduced alert firing. DISCUSSION: Our study suggests that over time and with system refinements, use of a commercial EHR with advanced CDS can lead to low prescribing error rates, although more serious errors may require targeted interventions to eliminate them. Reducing alert firing frequency appears particularly important. Our results provide support for federal efforts promoting meaningful use of EHRs. CONCLUSIONS: Ongoing error monitoring can allow CDS to be optimally tailored and help achieve maximal safety benefits. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier: NCT00603070.

Accuracy of electronically reported "meaningful use" clinical quality measures: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The federal Electronic Health Record Incentive Program requires electronic reporting of quality from electronic health records, beginning in 2014. Whether electronic reports of quality are accurate is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To measure the accuracy of electronic reporting compared with manual review. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: A federally qualified health center with a commercially available electronic health record. PATIENTS: All adult patients eligible in 2008 for 12 quality measures (using 8 unique denominators) were identified electronically. One hundred fifty patients were randomly sampled per denominator, yielding 1154 unique patients. MEASUREMENTS: Receipt of recommended care, assessed by both electronic reporting and manual review. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and absolute rates of recommended care were measured. RESULTS: Sensitivity of electronic reporting ranged from 46% to 98% per measure. Specificity ranged from 62% to 97%, positive predictive value from 57% to 97%, and negative predictive value from 32% to 99%. Positive likelihood ratios ranged from 2.34 to 24.25 and negative likelihood ratios from 0.02 to 0.61. Differences between electronic reporting and manual review were statistically significant for 3 measures: Electronic reporting underestimated the absolute rate of recommended care for 2 measures (appropriate asthma medication [38% vs. 77%; P < 0.001] and pneumococcal vaccination [27% vs. 48%; P < 0.001]) and overestimated care for 1 measure (cholesterol control in patients with diabetes [57% vs. 37%; P = 0.001]). LIMITATION: This study addresses the accuracy of the measure numerator only. CONCLUSION: Wide measure-by-measure variation in accuracy threatens the validity of electronic reporting. If variation is not addressed, financial incentives intended to reward high quality may not be given to the highest-quality providers. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Promoting generic medication prescribing by order interface redesign: small change, large impact.

Prescription drugs are a significant component of the ever increasing health care costs. We describe the effects on generic medication prescribing behavior achieved through redesign of the order entry interface of our institutions ambulatory electronic health record. The redesign involved custom programming that automatically substituted brand medications with their generic equivalents and only allowed continuation with the brand medication if the clinician made an extra mouse click selecting "dispense as written". We conducted a before-after retrospective study around the time of the redesign and witnessed a net 36.9% percentage increase in the number of generic medications prescribed.

Physician experiences transitioning between an older versus newer electronic health record for electronic prescribing.

PURPOSE: Federal incentives to adopt interoperable, certified electronic health records (EHRs) with electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) are motivating providers using older EHRs to transition to newer EHRs. The objective of this study was to describe, from the perspective of experienced EHR users, the transition from an older, locally developed EHR with minimal clinical decision support (CDS) for e-prescribing to a newer, commercial EHR with more robust CDS for e-prescribing. METHODS: This qualitative, case study consisted of observations and semi-structured interviews of adult internal medicine faculty members (n=19) at an academic-affiliated ambulatory care clinic from January through November 2009. All providers transitioned from the older, locally developed EHR to the newer, commercial EHR in April 2008. We analyzed field notes of observations and transcripts of semi-structured interviews using qualitative methods guided by a grounded theory approach. RESULTS: We identified key themes describing physician experiences. Despite intensive effort by the information systems team to ease the transition, even these experienced e-prescribers found transitioning extremely difficult. The commercial EHR was not perceived as improving medication safety, despite having more robust CDS. Additionally, physicians felt the commercial EHR was too complex, reducing their efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: This is among the first studies examining physician experiences transitioning between an older, locally developed EHR to a newer, commercial EHR with more robust CDS for e-prescribing. Understanding physician experiences with this type of transition and their general preferences for prescribing applications may lead to less disruptive system implementations and better designed EHRs that are more readily accepted by providers. In this way, productivity and safety benefits may be maximized while mitigating potential threats associated with transitions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier: NCT00603070.

A tri-marker proliferation index predicts biochemical recurrence after surgery for prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer exhibits tremendous variability in clinical behavior, ranging from indolent to lethal disease. Better prognostic markers are needed to stratify patients for appropriately aggressive therapy. By expression profiling, we can identify a proliferation signature variably expressed in prostate cancers. Here, we asked whether one or more tissue biomarkers might capture that information, and provide prognostic utility. We assayed three proliferation signature genes: MKI67 (Ki-67; also a classic proliferation biomarker), TOP2A (DNA topoisomerase II, alpha), and E2F1 (E2F transcription factor 1). Immunohistochemical staining was evaluable on 139 radical prostatectomy cases (in tissue microarray format), with a median clinical follow-up of eight years. Each of the three proliferation markers was by itself prognostic. Notably, combining the three markers together as a "proliferation index" (0 or 1, vs. 2 or 3 positive markers) provided superior prognostic performance (hazard ratio = 2.6 (95% CI: 1.4-4.9); P = 0.001). In a multivariate analysis that included preoperative serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels, Gleason grade and pathologic tumor stage, the composite proliferation index remained a significant predictor (P = 0.005). Analysis of receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves confirmed the improved prognostication afforded by incorporating the proliferation index (compared to the clinicopathologic data alone). Our findings highlight the potential value of a multi-gene signature-based diagnostic, and define a tri-marker proliferation index with possible utility for improved prognostication and treatment stratification in prostate cancer.

Transitioning between electronic health records: effects on ambulatory prescribing safety.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare providers previously using older electronic health records (EHRs) with electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) are transitioning to newer systems to be eligible for federal meaningful use incentives. Little is known about the safety effects of transitioning between systems. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of transitioning between EHR systems on rates and types of prescribing errors, as well as provider perceptions about the effect on prescribing safety. DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS: Prospective, case study of 17 physicians at an academic-affiliated ambulatory clinic from February 2008 through August 2009. All physicians transitioned from an older EHR with minimal clinical decision support (CDS) for e-prescribing to a newer EHR with more robust CDS. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Prescribing errors were identified by standardized prescription and chart review. A novel survey instrument was administered to evaluate provider perceptions about prescribing safety. KEY RESULTS: We analyzed 1298 prescriptions at baseline, 1331 prescriptions 12 weeks post-implementation, and 1303 prescriptions one year post-implementation. Overall prescribing error rates were highest at baseline (35.7 per 100 prescriptions, 95% confidence interval (CI) 23.2-54.8) and lowest one year post-implementation (12.2 per 100 prescriptions, 95% CI 8.6-17.4) (p < 0.001). Improvement in prescribing safety was mainly a result of reducing inappropriate abbreviation errors. However, rates for non-abbreviation prescribing errors were significantly higher at 12 weeks post-implementation than at baseline (17.7 per 100 prescriptions, 95% CI 9.5-33.0 versus 8.5 per 100 prescriptions, 95% CI 4.6-15.9) (p <0.001) and no different at baseline than one year (10.2 per 100 prescriptions, 95% CI 6.2-18.6) (p = 0.337). Survey results complemented quantitative findings. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this case study suggest that transitioning between systems, even to those with more robust CDS, may pose important safety threats. Recognizing the challenges associated with transitions and refining CDS within systems may help maximize safety benefits.

Physicians' potential use and preferences related to health information exchange.

PURPOSE: To characterize physician attitudes and preferences towards health information exchange (HIE), which is the ability to transmit health information electronically across institutions, and identify factors that influence physicians' interest in using HIE for their clinical work. METHODS: A survey was conducted of physicians affiliated with institutions that are stakeholders of a regional health information organization in the United States (U.S.). Surveys were administered between May and October, 2009 at educational conferences and on site at physician practices. RESULTS: Of the 328 physicians asked to participate, 44% (n=144) completed the survey. Sixty-eight percent (n=88) of physicians expressed interest in using HIE for their clinical work. Most physicians expected HIE to improve provider communication (89%), coordination and continuity of care (87%) and efficiency (87%). Potential barriers to adopting or using HIE included start-up costs (57%) and resources to select and implement a system (38%). A majority reported that technical assistance (70%) and financial incentives to use (65%) or purchase (54%) health IT systems would positively influence their adoption and use of HIE. Physicians who believe that financial incentives would be helpful, that HIE would be easy to use, or who prefer viewing patient health information electronically were found to be at least three times more likely to indicate they would adopt and use HIE. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that providers largely consider HIE as potentially valuable and a majority would be willing to use HIE. Recent U.S. federal health IT policies that provide financial incentives as well as technical assistance may address potential barriers to adoption and usage of HIE.