The Rx for Change database summarizes current research evidence about the effects of strategies to improve drug prescribing pra ctice and drug use. This database houses summaries of key findings from systematic reviews that evaluate the effects of strategies targeting professionals, the organization of health care, and consumers.

The database was initially published on-line in April 2007 and updated in April 2009 and October 2009.  For information about the methods, see Methods for Development

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  • Professional
    • Interventions that target professionals directly, aiming to improve practice.
    • Distribution of Educational Materials

      Distribution of published or printed recommendations for clinical care, including clinical practice guidelines, audio-visual materials and electronic publications. The materials may have been delivered personally or through mass mailings.

    • Educational Meetings New Evidence

      Health care providers who have participated in conferences, lectures, workshops or traineeships.

    • Local Consensus Process

      Inclusion of participating providers in discussion to ensure that they agreed that the chosen clinical problem was important and the approach to managing the problem was appropriate.

    • Educational Outreach Visits

      Use of a trained person who met with providers in their practice settings to give information with the intent of changing the provider’s practice. The information given may have included feedback on the performance of the provider(s). Can also be referred to as "academic detailing".

    • Local Opinion Leaders

      Use of providers nominated by their colleagues as ‘educationally influential’. The investigators must have explicitly stated that their colleagues identified the opinion leaders.)

    • Patient-Mediated New Evidence

      New clinical information (not previously available) collected directly from patients and given to the provider e.g. depression scores from an instrument.

    • Audit and Feedback

      Any summary of clinical performance of health care over a specified period of time. The summary may also have included recommendations for clinical action. The information may have been obtained from medical records, computerized databases, or observations from patients.

    • Reminders - Computer Decision Support Systems (drug dosing)

      Patient or encounter specific information, provided on a computer screen targeting the dosage of the medication.

    • Reminders - Computer Physician Order Entry

      Patient or encounter specific information, provided on a computer screen aimed at automating the ordering of medication.

    • Reminders - General New Evidence

      Patient or encounter specific information, provided verbally, on paper or on a computer screen, which is designed or intended to prompt a health professional to recall information. This would usually be encountered through their general education; in the medical records or through interactions with peers, and so remind them to perform or avoid some action to aid individual patient care. Computer aided decision support is included.

    • Mass Media

      Varied use of communication that reached great numbers of people including television, radio, newspapers, posters, leaflets, and booklets, alone or in conjunction with other interventions; (ii) targeted at the population level.

    • Tailored Interventions

      Use of personal interviewing, group discussion (‘focus groups’), or a survey of targeted providers to identify barriers to change and subsequent design of an intervention that addresses identified barriers.

    • Professional - other

      Other professional interventions not addressed above.

    • Multifaceted New Evidence

      Any combination of two or more professional, organisational, financial, structural or regulatory interventions designed to improve prescribing practices or other health provider behaviour.

  • Consumer
    • Interventions that affect drug use by and prescribing for consumers.
    • Providing information or education New Evidence

      Strategies enabling consumers to know about their treatment and their health. Interventions include those to educate, provide information or to promote health or treatment. Interventions may be simple or multifaceted, and include those seeking solely to educate or inform consumers about treatment or health. They also include those seeking to educate, inform or promote health as part of a multifaceted intervention for managing health or treatment.

    • Supporting behaviour change New Evidence

      Interventions which focus on the adoption or promotion of health behaviours and treatment behaviours, such as adherence to medicines. Included are interventions at an individual level that address behaviour change for both the under-use and overuse of medicines. Strategies may include a practical application or component to assist consumers in taking their medicines correctly - such as those involving reminder devices, pre-packaging of multiple medicines, or different or simplified drug formulations.

    • Acquiring skills and competencies New Evidence

      Strategies that focus on the acquisition of skills relevant to medicines use. These interventions are aimed at consumers to help them develop a broad set of competencies around medicines use, such as self-care or self-management; self-monitoring and self-testing for the purposes of treatment; and training in the correct use of devices to deliver treatment, or the correct use of the treatment itself. Interventions are also aimed at the promotion of health.

    • Support New Evidence

      Interventions which provide assistance and encouragement to help consumers to cope with and manage their health and ongoing medicines use, such as counseling and follow-up in relation to medicines use. Interventions included here can be targeted at patients or at carers.

    • Facilitating communication and decision making

      Strategies to involve consumers in decision-making about medicines. Interventions include those which aim to help consumers make decisions about medicines use; to encourage consumers to express their beliefs, values and preferences about treatments and care; and to optimize communication with consumers about medicines use and related issues.

    • Minimising risks or harms New Evidence

      Strategies including a specific focus on preventing or managing adverse events of treatment and complications of disease. Included are interventions for self-testing and self-monitoring in relation to treatment; and interventions to promote knowledge, prevention or action in an emergency or crisis related to a disease, such as action plans and management when exacerbations of a disease occur. Strategies can be directed to individuals to minimize their individual risks or harms associated with treatment; or they may represent interventions with public health or community-level implications (e.g. reduction of medicines use, such as use of antibiotics; or augmentation of medicines use, such as immunisation uptake).

    • Improving quality New Evidence

      Interventions to improve the total package of care, the coordination of care, or the integration of care delivered. Interventions include those which involve the substitution or expansion of one type of care or means of delivering care in relation to medicines use and/or prescribing. It also includes interventions that aim to overcome system barriers to treatment with medicines, including financial barriers.

    • Consumer system participation

      Interventions to involve consumers and/or carers in decision-making processes on prescribing and medicines use at a system level.

  • Organisational
    • Interventions that involve a change in the structure or delivery of health care.
    • Revision of Professional Roles - Pharmacy New Evidence

      The expansion of pharmacist roles to include new tasks

    • Revision of Professional Roles - Nursing New Evidence

      The expansion of nursing roles to include new tasks

    • Revision of professional roles - general

      Also known as 'professional substitution', specialist role' or 'boundary encroachment', this includes the shifting of roles among health professionals and expansion of role to include new tasks. See also revision of professional roles - nursing and revision of professional roles - pharmacy intervention categories for specified nursing or pharmacy led care.

    • Quality Improvement

      Presence and organisation of quality monitoring mechanisms

    • Changes in medical records systems

      Change in format or structure of medical record, such as switching to computerized records.

    • Changes in physical structure, facilities and equipment

      For example, a change of location of nursing stations, inclusion of equipment where technology in question is used in a wide range of problems and is not disease specific.

    • Changes in scope and nature of benefits and services

      For example, additional treatments being made available to the patient.

      No reviews were located that assessed this intervention for evidence based prescribing and drug use.

    • Changes to settings/site of delivery service New Evidence

      For example, moving a family planning service from a hospital to a school.

    • Clinical multidisciplinary teams

      Creation of a new team of health professionals of different disciplines or additions of new members to the team who work together to care for patients.

    • Continuity of care New Evidence

      An intervention which includes one or many episodes of care for inpatients or outpatients. Continuity of care also includes arrangements for follow-up and case management, including co-ordination of assessment, treatment and arrangement for referrals.

    • Skill mix changes

      Changes in numbers, types or qualifications of staff.

      No reviews were located that assessed this intervention for evidence based prescribing and drug use.

    • Communication and case discussion between distant health professionals

      For example, telephone or video links between specialists and general practitioners.

    • Organisational (Patient oriented interventions)

      Changes in structure or delivery which target patients

      No reviews were located that assessed this intervention for evidence based prescribing and drug use.

    • Formal integration of services

      Bringing together of services across sectors or teams or the organisation of services to bring all services together at one time

    • Satisfaction of providers with the conditions of work and the material and psychological rewards

      For example, interventions to improve morale of staff.

      No reviews were located that assessed this intervention for evidence based prescribing and drug use.

    • Ownership, accreditation, and affiliation status of hospitals and other facilities

      For example, a hospital changing from a university academic centre to a public institution.

      No reviews were located that assessed this intervention for evidence based prescribing and drug use.

    • Organisational (Provider) - Other

      Other organisational (provider) interventions not addressed above.

    • Organisational (Structural) - Other

      Other structural interventions not addressed above.

  • Financial
    • Interventions that change professional reimbursement, incentives and penalties.
    • Financial

      Any change in reimbursement, incentive payment or penalty of health care professional, organisation or patient.

    • Formulary

      Medications added to or removed from reimbursable available products.

  • Regulatory
    • Interventions that aim to change health services delivery by regulation or law.
    • Regulatory

      Any intervention that aims to change health services delivery by regulation or law.

Excluded Reviews

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Example: change to generic drug