Point-Of-Care Testing In Danish General Practice: A Randomised Controlled Trial - Part II
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Sponsor
- Enrollment
- 286
- Locations
- 2
- Primary Endpoint
- Total number of split tests performed in study period (three periods).
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The aim of this project is to evaluate the efficacy of electronic reminder letters versus none on general practices adherence to clinical quality guidelines regarding Point Of Care Testing (POCT). The investigators hypothesize, that electronic reminder letters may increase adherence.
Detailed Description
Point-of-care testing (POCT) is increasingly being used in general practice to assist GPs in their management of patients with diseases. An accredited external quality assessment (EQA) program and internal quality control system is recommended1. In the Copenhagen area external as well as internal quality control has been enforced by annual outreach consultant visits and by split sample EQA procedures, where POCT results have been compared with central laboratory results. However, the adherence to quality guidelines has been seen to be less than anticipated among GPs in the Copenhagen municipality and in the former county of Copenhagen.
Dissemination of guidelines alone rarely brings about improvements in clinical practice2 and even an multifaceted implementation of guidelines may not change clinical practice 3;4. Multiple strategies for implementing guidelines appear to be more effective than single ones 5;6. However, well-designed empirical research looking into various implementation strategies is still needed in this area 7.
E-mails have successfully been used in several studies to promote health behaviour change in risk populations 8;9 and our hypothesis is that electronic reminder letters (send to the GPs electronic patient records) is an efficient and inexpensive way to influence the behaviour of GP's.
Due to the low adherence, the Copenhagen General Practitioners' Laboratory (CGPL) plans to introduce electronic reminder letters (alongside the standard implementation procedures) during 2010 in order to increase adherence to the quality guideline.
The aims of this study are:
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Crossover
- Primary Purpose
- Health Services Research
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 30 Years to 75 Years (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •All GPs using at least 5 POCT analysis (either 5 Haemoglobin or 5 glucose) during baseline period (january-april 2010)
Exclusion Criteria
- •All GPs using at least 5 INR POCT analysis during baseline period (january-april 2010).
- •GPs stopping during study period.
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Total number of split tests performed in study period (three periods).
Time Frame: January - April 2011
Total number of split tests performed in study period (three periods).
Secondary Outcomes
- Proportion of practices with a high quality of tests defined as 75% of the performed split tests for INR within the accepted interval according to the CGPL quality guidelines1 in study period.(January - April 2011)
- Proportion of practices conducting split tests in study period.(January - April 2011)