This is a study to better understand the nature and extent of adverse drug events (ADEs), defined as injuries due to prescription medications, in primary care. We will study whether PatientSite (an internet-based communication program for patients and health care providers) can improve clinicians’ ability to detect adverse drug events among primary care patients and to mitigate the consequences by sending electronic queries to patients after they receive new medication prescriptions.

Condition	Intervention
Preventive health Primary care Adverse drug event	Behavior: Electronic messages for patients via Internet portal

Further Study Details: 

Primary Outcomes: To prevent adverse drug events with PatientSite.
Secondary Outcomes: Improve patient satisfaction; better utilization of services; improve patient-clinician communication
Expected Total Enrollment:  800

• A drug safety module called MedCheck was developed for PatientSite. This allows physicians to query patients automatically 10 days after they receive a new prescription asking them questions about their new prescription. In this study new enhancements will be tested.
• Participants will be assigned at random to the intervention group or control group. The intervention group will receive a single electronic PatientSite message asking them questions about the new prescription which is then forwarded to their physician. The control group will receive a generic message about medication safety.
• To identify adverse drug events, a telephone survey and medical record review will be conducted of patients in the intervention group and controls.
• This study will run for 12 months.

Ages Eligible for Study:  18 Years and above,  Genders Eligible for Study:  Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult patients >18
• Patients that receive a new prescription
• Proficient in spoken and written english

Exclusion Criteria:

Massachusetts
      Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston,  Massachusetts,  02215,  United States

Study chairs or principal investigators

Saul N Weingart, MD, PhD,  Principal Investigator,  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute   

Study ID Numbers:  05-061; Weingart - K08HS11644
Last Updated:  August 31, 2005
Record first received:  August 30, 2005
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:  NCT00140504
Health Authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on 2005-09-13