HealthDay News — A monthly educational intervention paired with a web-based quality improvement tool is feasible for increasing the proportion of inappropriate proton pump inhibitor prescriptions discontinued at hospital discharge, according to a study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
Emily G. McDonald, MD, from the McGill University Health Center in Montreal, and colleagues conducted a before-after study involving a monthly educational intervention paired with a web-based quality improvement tool to reduce inappropriate proton pump inhibitor (PPI) prescriptions. Data were compared for 464 consecutively admitted patients in the pre-intervention control group, and 640 consecutively admitted patients in the intervention group.
Before hospitalization, 44% of patients were using a PPI, the researchers found. Only 54% of evaluated patients had an evidence-based indication for ongoing use. There was an increase in the proportion of PPIs discontinued at hospital discharge, from 7.7% per month in the six months before the intervention to 18.5% per month post-intervention (P=0.03).
“We significantly reduced discharge prescriptions for PPIs through the implementation of an educational initiative paired with a web-based quality improvement tool,” the researchers wrote. “An active interventional strategy is likely required considering the increasingly recognized and preventable adverse events associated with PPI misuse.”
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