Evaluating Patient Information Prescriptions

NCT ID: NCT00355381

Last Updated: 2018-10-23

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: PHASE2
• Total Enrollment: 299 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2004-09-30
• Study Completion Date: 2009-09-30

Brief Summary

Research shows that patient satisfaction with medical care correlates strongly with how satisfied they are with the ease of getting information from their providers regarding their medical condition. Although the Internet is a wonderful source of information for patients, research has shown that, unmediated, it comprises a potential quagmire of information poorly matched to users needs. Providers typically do not have enough time to fulfill all of their patients' information needs. One strategy to meeting the patient's information needs is to introduce librarians trained and experienced in consumer health information services into the relationship between the patient and the provider. One recently described tactic is for providers to provide information the way they of provide treatment-through an information prescription (IRx) filled by a librarian. The librarian fills the prescription by offering information services tailored to the needs of individual patients. At Johns Hopkins, we have piloted such a tactic, and in this project, extend and evaluate it. The research hypothesis is that provision of an IRx will improve patient satisfaction, provider knowledge and attitudes regarding patient information needs, and the efficiencies of care.

Detailed Description

The goal of this research is to evaluate IRx, to provide enough data so care organizations can decide whether to implement this in their own environment.

To that end, our specific aims are:

1. To evaluate the impact of IRx on patients. We are performing a randomized clinical trial, comparing IRx with standard provision of information. The primary outcome is patient satisfaction.

2. To evaluate the impact of IRx on providers. As part of the trial, provider perceptions and behavior will be assessed.

3. To evaluate the impact of IRx on the health-care system. As part of the trial, costs entailed and resources utilized will be assessed.

4. To evaluate how IRx generalizes across service environments. The trial will be performed in two environments: adult breast cancer and neonatal intensive care.

At the heart of this proposal are the randomized clinical trials. In each, patients in both intervention and control groups will receive standard clinical care in their clinic visits. Patients randomized to the intervention group will receive information services from a specially trained librarian; patients in the control groups will receive routine, current information provision. For Aim 1, immediately after their clinic visits and four weeks later, all participants will report their satisfaction on a survey that include measures of patient-provider communication. For Aim 2, participating providers are surveyed for their perceptions of information needs being met and about patient-provider interaction. For Aim 3, costs of care and costs of providing the IRx environment will be tabulated.

Conditions

Breast Neoplasms; Premature Birth

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Interventions

Information Services (IRx)

Information services tailored to the needs of individual patients. The information prescription (IRx)or service is defined for this study as a combination of: 1)An evidence-based web site for use by patients and their families; 2) A reference interview and assistance in locating relevant general information in response to patient information needs; 3) Documentation of the questions and the information service provided in response to these in the patient's Electronic Patient Record for review by providers as needed; and, 4) Triage of patient's/parents clinical questions to providers.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Information prescriptions or IRx

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Breast Cancer: any new patient seen in Johns Hopkins medical oncology for Breast Cancer
• Neonatal Intensive care:Biological mothers (or consenting guardians) of premature infants born and admitted or transferred in to Johns Hopkins Hospital or Bayview Medical Center neonatal intensive care units.

Exclusion Criteria

• Breast Cancer: None
• Neonatal Intensive Care: Parents with infants whose SNAP mortality >= 80%(J Pediatr. 2001 Jan;138(1):92-100)

• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

National Library of Medicine (NLM)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Johns Hopkins University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Nancy K Oliver, MLS

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Kathleen B Oliver, MLS, MPH

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Locations

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

1R01LM008143

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

JHU 04-09-03-01

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id