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Drug utilisation 90% profiles—a useful tool for quality assessment of prescribing in primary health care in Stockholm
Author(s) -
Wettermark Björn,
Pehrsson Åke,
Jinnerot Dane,
Bergman Ulf
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.023
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1099-1557
pISSN - 1053-8569
DOI - 10.1002/pds.852
Subject(s) - medicine , guideline , medical prescription , family medicine , credibility , drug , quality (philosophy) , academic detailing , health care , general practice , strengths and weaknesses , primary care , nursing , pharmacology , philosophy , epistemology , pathology , political science , law , economics , economic growth
Abstract Purpose To analyse strengths and weaknesses of a simple method for assessing the general quality of drug prescribing and to study the acceptance of the method among general practitioners (GPs). Methods Prescriptions dispensed during October–December 1999 and 2000, respectively, were analysed for 38 Primary Health Care centres (PHC) in Stockholm participating in an intervention project with the aim of increasing cost‐consciousness among GPs. Focus was on quality of prescribing rather than on costs. Prescribing profiles focusing on the number of drugs constituting 90% of the volume (= DU90%) and the adherence to local drug committee guideline within this segment were presented for the prescribers. The credibility and usefulness of the method was evaluated by a questionnaire. Result Among the PHCs, the total number of drugs prescribed varied between 358 and 674. The number of drugs in the DU90%‐segment varied between 117 and 194. The adherence to guideline within this segment varied between 56% and 74% and increased over time. The prescribers found the DU90%‐profiles clear and relevant and considered the method to be a useful tool for improving the quality of drug prescribing. Conclusion Providing DU90%‐profiles with guideline adherence as feedback was shown to be a valuable tool in general practice for assessing the overall quality in prescribing and to form the basis for more disease‐ or patient‐specific analyses. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.