Nudging Doctors to Collaborate with Pharmacists to Improve Medication Adherence

描述（由申请人提供）：处方药物依从性差是普遍存在且代价高昂的。医生对患者依从性的评估是不准确的，这使得使用药房的声明来识别不依从性变得很有吸引力。但研究清楚地表明，仅仅向医生提供关于不遵守规定的索赔数据是无效的，可能是因为不清楚该采取什么行动，也可能是因为采取任何行动的时间和精力成本都很高。目前缺乏的是一种将诊断信息和治疗专业知识有效整合到初级保健医生办公室工作流程中的实用方法，以及一种引导医生采取行动的有效方法。本研究的长期目标是开发有效连接药房福利管理人员（PBMs）、初级保健医生、临床药剂师和患者的系统，以提高药物依从性和患者的健康结果。这项申请的总体目标，也是我们实现长期目标的下一步，是进行一项干预措施的试点测试，向医生及时提供有关不依从的诊断信息，然后比较两种为初级保健医生及其患者提供药剂师服务的方法的有效性。利用智能选择架构的原理，在一只手臂中，药剂师将作为默认选项与患者联系（医生不需要采取任何行动），而在另一只手臂中，只有在医生主动选择药剂师采取行动时，药剂师才会与患者联系。我们的中心假设得到了其他领域工作的大力支持，即当药剂师的干预是默认结果时，会更频繁地咨询药剂师，并且默认药剂师干预将最有利于依从性结果。选择这种方法的理由是，从行为经济学的观察来看，即使短期内的小成本也会阻止医生追求具有重要长期效益的行动方案。这项拟议中的研究与美国国立卫生研究院的使命有关，因为治疗艾滋病等慢性疾病的药物依从性差是一个严重的全球性问题。RC4提案有三个具体目标：1)建立和测试进行该临床试验所需的技术和通信基础设施；2)进行和评估干预的临床试验，比较向初级保健医生提供药剂师服务的方法；3)评估经济结果。这一建议意义重大，因为药物不依从是一个常见且昂贵的问题，目前几乎没有有效的解决方案。它的创新之处在于，它将行为经济学原理应用于药物依从性问题；因为它测试了一种连接药品福利管理机构、医生、病人和药剂师的通信架构；因为它将在小团体实践的松散联盟中发生；因为它包含了对经济结果的分析。虽然这项初步研究的重点是糖尿病、高血压和高脂血症，但干预本身是广泛和交叉的，适用于任何医疗条件和所有护理环境。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Poor adherence with prescription medications is ubiquitous and costly. Physicians' assessments of patients' adherence are inaccurate, which makes it attractive to use pharmacy claims to identify nonadherence. But research clearly shows that simply giving physicians claims data about nonadherence is ineffective, probably because it is not clear what action to take, and because the cost in time and energy of any taking action is great. What is currently lacking is a practical way to effectively integrate diagnostic information and treatment expertise into work flows in primary care physicians' offices, and an effective method of inducing physicians to act on it. The long term goal of this research is to develop systems that effectively connect pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs), primary care doctors, clinical pharmacists, and patients in ways that improve medication adherence and patients' health outcomes. The overall objective of this application, which is the next step toward attainment of our long term goal, is to conduct a pilot test of an intervention that delivers timely diagnostic information about nonadherence to physicians, and then compares the effectiveness of two ways to provide pharmacist services to primary care physicians and their patients. Taking advantage of the principle of intelligent choice architecture, in one arm the pharmacist will contact the patient as the default option (with no action required by the doctor), and in the other the pharmacist will contact the patient only if the doctor actively chooses that the pharmacist take action. Our central hypothesis, which is strongly supported by work in other fields, is that the pharmacist will be consulted more often when intervention by the pharmacist is the default outcome, and that the default pharmacist intervention will be the most beneficial for adherence outcomes. The rationale for choosing this approach is the observation, from behavioral economics, that even small costs in the short term can prevent physicians from pursuing a course of action that has important long term benefits. The proposed research is relevant to the NIH's mission because poor adherence with medications for chronic conditions like HIV is a serious, worldwide problem. This RC4 proposal has three Specific Aims: 1) Establish and test the technical and communications infrastructure required for the conduct of this clinical trial, 2) Conduct and evaluate a clinical trial of an intervention comparing methods of offering pharmacist services to primary care physicians, and 3) Evaluate economic outcomes. This proposal is significant because medication nonadherence is a common and costly problem for which there are currently few effective solutions. It is innovative because it applies principles from behavioral economics to the problem of medication adherence; because it tests a communications architecture that links PBMs, physicians, patients, and pharmacists; because it will take place in a loose alliance of small group practices; and because it includes analysis of economic outcomes. While this pilot study focuses on diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, the intervention itself is broad and cross-cutting, and applicable to any medical condition and all care settings. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: While achieving optimal health outcomes for persons with chronic medical conditions requires that patients adhere to effective medications, few simple and effective methods to accomplish this have been developed. This proposed pilot study develops an innovative communications infrastructure that links pharmacy benefits managers, physicians, patients, and pharmacists, and uses principles from behavioral economics to compare the effectiveness of two different ways to use this infrastructure. While this pilot study focuses on diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, the intervention is applicable to any medical condition and all care settings.