Premium
Sleeping with the enemy? A randomized controlled trial of a collaborative health authority/industry intervention to influence prescribing practice
Author(s) -
Freemantle Nick,
Johnson Richard,
Dennis Jane,
Kennedy Andrew,
Marchment Mike
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
british journal of clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.216
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1365-2125
pISSN - 0306-5251
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2125.2000.00126.x
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , intervention (counseling) , randomized controlled trial , medical prescription , medicine , pharmaceutical industry , health care , constructive , nursing , family medicine , process (computing) , surgery , pharmacology , political science , computer science , paleontology , law , biology , operating system
Aims To evaluate the effectiveness of a health authority/pharmaceutical company collaborative intervention to influence the choice of proton pump inhibitors Methods Randomized controlled trial, with general practices forming the unit of allocation and analysis. Results Constructive working relationships were achieved with five of six pharmaceutical companies involved. One hundred and two out of 140 practitioners in intervention group practices received at least one visit from an industry representative. There were no reports of representatives operating outside their agreed remit. Prescribing in both the intervention and control group moved towards that recommended by the guidelines but there was no difference between the groups in either the proportion of prescriptions in line with the guidelines or the overall cost. Conclusions Health authorities can achieve professional working relationships with the pharmaceutical industry although no changes in practice attributable to the intervention are achieved. Further work is required to develop effective means to influence prescribing in line with independent guidelines especially in the context of the development of Primary Care Groups.