Abstract
Objective
Although mobile devices equipped with drug reference software may help prevent adverse
drug events (ADEs) in the nursing home (NH) by providing medication information at
the point of care, little is known about their use and perceived benefits. The goal
of this study was to conduct a survey of a nationally representative sample of NH
physicians to quantify the use and perceived benefits of mobile devices in preventing
ADEs in the NH setting.
Design/Setting/Participants
We surveyed physicians who attended the 2010 American Medical Directors Association
Annual Symposium about their use of mobile devices, and beliefs about the effectiveness
of drug reference software in preventing ADEs.
Results
The overall net valid response rate was 70% (558/800) with 42% (236/558) using mobile
devices to assist with prescribing in the NH. Physicians with 15 or fewer years of
clinical experience were 67% more likely to be mobile device users, compared with
those with more than 15 years of clinical experience (odds ratio = 1.68; 95% confidence
interval = 1.17–2.41; P = .005). For those who used a mobile device to assist with prescribing, almost all
(98%) reported performing an average of 1 or more drug look-ups per day, performed
an average of 1 to 2 lookups per day for potential drug-drug interactions (DDIs),
and most (88%) believed that drug reference software had helped to prevent at least
1 potential ADE in the preceding 4-week period.
Conclusions
The proportion of NH physicians who use mobile devices with drug reference software,
although significant, is lower than in other clinical environments. Our results suggest
that NH physicians who use mobile devices equipped with drug reference software believe
they are helpful for reducing ADEs. Further research is needed to better characterize
the facilitators and barriers to adoption of the technology in the NH and its precise
impact on NH ADEs.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 04, 2013
Footnotes
This study was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (R01HS018721, K12HS019461), a National Institutes of Health Roadmap Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Career Development Award Grant (KL2 RR024154-01), National Institute of Aging grants (R01AG027017; P30AG024827; K07AG033174), a National Library of Medicine Fellowship (5 T15 LM007059-24), and a Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Research grant (IIR-06-062). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality or any of the other funding sources. Ethics approval was provided by the University of Pittsburgh.
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Identification
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© 2013 American Medical Directors Association, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
