Multi-hospital Electronic Decision Support for Drug-associated Acute Kidney Injury

NCT ID: NCT06264752

Last Updated: 2025-09-12

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

698 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-02-15

Study Completion Date

2025-07-15

Brief Summary

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This study is a randomized controlled trial at eight hospitals within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center-UPMC system. The project will assess the efficacy of a clinical surveillance system augmented with near real-time predictive analytics to support a pharmacist-led intervention delivered to attending physicians (primary service) to reduce the progression and complications of drug-associated acute kidney injury (D-AKI) in hospitalized (non-ICU) adults.

Detailed Description

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Researchers will randomize 38 hospital service clusters to receive either: 1) a Cerner electronic medical record (EMR)-based AKI passive alert which is standard of care at UPMC: this alert provides decision support within the EMR for the diagnosis and basic staging of AKI but without specific recommendations for management (Usual Care Arm); or 2) protocolized stage-based intervention delivered to the physician by a pharmacist for consideration and approval. The intervention uses an automated alerting system to identify patients: 1) receiving a high-risk drug or drug combination associated with D-AKI and at low-risk for progression to either stage 2 AKI or stage 3 AKI per KDIGO criteria (Level A) and 2) patients without AKI or stage 1 AKI receiving a high-risk drug or drug combination associated with D-AKI and at high risk for progression to either stage 2 AKI or stage 3 AKI per KDIGO criteria, and patients with AKI stage 2 or stage 3 receiving a high-risk drug or drug combination associated with D-AKI or a medication that requires renal dose adjustment (Level B). This patient specific risk-profile will be coupled with recommendations for medication management and delivered to the physician by a pharmacist for consideration and approval. Additionally, the investigators will assess cost-effectiveness and physicians' perception of the pharmacist-led service.

The primary outcome is Major Adverse Kidney Events within 30 days of randomization (MAKE30), defined as defined as a composite of death, new kidney replacement therapy, or final serum creatinine ≥150% of reference at the earliest of hospital discharge or 30 days from study enrollment, whichever occurs first. Key secondary outcomes include: progression of AKI from time of Level B intervention (first alert generated) to hospital discharge, AKI intensity (duration of AKI by all stages, duration of AKI stage 2, and duration of AKI stage 3), and nephrotoxic burden.

Conditions

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Acute Kidney Injury

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

This is a prospective, randomized, interventional controlled trial at eight hospitals within the UPMC health-system. Researchers will randomize 38 hospital service clusters to receive either: 1) a Cerner electronic medical record (EMR)-based AKI passive alert which is standard of care at UPMC: this alert provides decision support within the EMR for the diagnosis and basic staging of AKI but without specific recommendations for management (Usual Care Arm); or 2) protocolized stage-based intervention delivered to the physician by a pharmacist for consideration and approval. Hospital service clusters will be allocated 1:1 to the intervention or usual care with a web-based system to maintain concealment using a randomized block design.
Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors
Statisticians performing the analysis will be blinded to the treatment allocation.

The investigators will randomize clusters to intervention and control within strata defined hospitals to adjust for inherent subgroup differences. The allocation sequence list will be maintained by the data management team (DMT) using a secure web-based system where assignments will be maintained and accessed by the CDSS. Pharmacists will only receive alerts for patients of physicians randomized to the intervention.

Study Groups

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Protocolized stage-based intervention

The intervention uses an automated alerting system to identify patients: 1) receiving a high-risk drug or drug combination associated with AKI and at low-risk for progression to either stage 2 AKI or stage 3 AKI (Level A) and 2) patients without AKI or stage 1 AKI receiving a high-risk drug or drug combination associated with AKI and at high risk for progression to either stage 2 AKI or stage 3 AKI, and patients with AKI stage 2 or stage 3 receiving a high-risk drug or drug combination associated with AKI or a medication that requires renal dose adjustment (Level B). This patient specific risk-profile will be coupled with recommendations for medication management and delivered to the physician by a pharmacist for consideration and approval.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Level A

Intervention Type OTHER

Pharmacy personnel will generate a general recommendation based on the AKI KDIGO management guidelines to the physician.

Level B

Intervention Type OTHER

The pharmacist will make nephrotoxic/renally eliminated medication management recommendations to the attending physician (or designee). Recommendations may include stopping or changing a drug, changing dose or schedule, ordering laboratory tests, taking no action, or other. The pharmacist will record details of the interaction with the physician and whether recommendations were accepted.

Usual Care

A Cerner EMR-based AKI passive alert which is standard of care at UPMC.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Passive Alert

Intervention Type OTHER

Passive Cerner alert provides decision support within the EMR for the diagnosis and basic staging of AKI but without specific recommendations for management.

Interventions

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Level A

Pharmacy personnel will generate a general recommendation based on the AKI KDIGO management guidelines to the physician.

Intervention Type OTHER

Level B

The pharmacist will make nephrotoxic/renally eliminated medication management recommendations to the attending physician (or designee). Recommendations may include stopping or changing a drug, changing dose or schedule, ordering laboratory tests, taking no action, or other. The pharmacist will record details of the interaction with the physician and whether recommendations were accepted.

Intervention Type OTHER

Passive Alert

Passive Cerner alert provides decision support within the EMR for the diagnosis and basic staging of AKI but without specific recommendations for management.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

Physician-subject Inclusion

* Physicians employed at UPMC hospital systems
* Attending physicians of record who care for patients across multiple units outside ICU/ED
* Physician cares for 1 or more patient receiving a system alert identifying high-risk for AKI

Patient-subject Inclusion

* System alert identifying risk for AKI
* Patient has attending physician who is participating in the randomized clusters
* After initial patient inclusion, an individual patient will not be eligible for re-inclusion until after 90 days. Re-inclusion will only be allowed if a separate hospital admission/encounter occurs and only starting on day 91

Exclusion Criteria

Physician-subject Exclusion

* Physicians of record who only care for ICU or ED patients
* Physicians who primarily provide care for transplant (heart, kidney, liver, etc.) patients
* Physicians who primarily provide consult services only (dermatology, rehabilitation, etc.)

Patient-subject Exclusion

• Patients with end stage renal disease on admission, baseline eGFR \<15, comfort measures only, or died before the intervention could be delivered
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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University of Florida

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Pittsburgh

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Sandra Kane-Gill, PharmD, MSc, FCCP, FCCM

Professor of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Sandra L Kane-Gill, PharmD, MS

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Pittsburgh

Azra Bihorac, MD, MS

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Florida

Locations

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UPMC Altoona

Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

UPMC Horizon

Farrell, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

UPMC McKeesport

McKeesport, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

UPMC Jameson

New Castle, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

UPMC Magee

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

UPMC Presbyterian/Montefiore

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

UPMC Shadyside

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

UPMC Williamsport

Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Stottlemyer BA, Kellum JA, Bihorac A, Ozrazgat-Baslanti T, Murugan R, Chang CH, Amatullah N, Tran TL, Lukan CJ, Elder MM, Adiyeke E, Ren Y, Ricketts D, Emanuele B, Rashidi P, Kane-Gill SL. Multi-hospital electronic decision support for drug-associated acute kidney injury (MEnD-AKI): Study protocol for a randomized clinical trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2025 Oct;157:108055. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.108055. Epub 2025 Aug 22.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 40850370 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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R01DK121730

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

STUDY20120008

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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