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NPS Member Update: March 2009NPS Member Update: March 2009

Rollout of new therapeutic educational program

A new NPS educational program, Antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy in stroke prevention, is now available to health professionals.

The program focuses on addressing gaps in antiplatelet and anticoagulant use in stroke prevention, and includes:

  • Assessing absolute cardiovascular risk to establish which patients would benefit from aspirin in primary prevention of cardiovascular event
  • Deciphering the evidence behind aspirin, aspirin plus dipyridamole and clopidogrel to choose the appropriate antiplatelet to prevent recurrent stroke and transient ischaemic attacks (TIA)
  • Using scoring of risk factors in patients with atrial fibrillation to stratify stroke risk and decide between warfarin and aspirin
  • Assessing risk factors for bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation before commencing warfarin therapy
  • Strategies, such as decision aids, that will help increase patient concordance with warfarin
  • The critical importance of maintaining international normalised ratio (INR[b1] ) within therapeutic range and educating patients on the safe use of warfarin.

For more information on this program please contact Judith Mackson on 02 8217 8700 or via email info@nps.org.au.

Evaluation of prescribing and dispensing software: publication of results of drug interaction decision support study

In late 2006 NPS commenced an evaluation of drug interaction alerts in prescribing and dispensing software systems along with a range of reference sources.

Earlier NPS research had suggested that some GPs and pharmacists were dissatisfied with the drug interaction alerts in their systems. The new 2006 study examined how the information from drug interaction alerts might impact the quality use of medicines in primary care. It evaluated information content as well as variability between systems.

The results of this study were published in the Medical Journal of Australia on 2 March 2009. It recommends better content and formatting of  drug interaction alerts, which may help publishers and software vendors improve their alerts, better supporting clinical decision-making and improving patient safety.

Review of the Quality of Complementary Medicines Information Resources Report

In December 2008 NPS released research into the information needs and preferences of consumers and health professionals about complementary medicines (CMs). This research highlighted the need to improve complementary medicines information availability and awareness.

NPS has released a review of the CMs information resources currently available. You can see the report online at www.nps.org.au/comp_meds/info_summary.

NPS Evaluation Report No. 11

Since our inception in 1998, our robust evaluation framework has enabled us to measure the impact of NPS work and has informed approaches to program design and delivery.

Our latest report presents information on the progress and key achievements of NPS to June 2008. You can see the report online at www.nps.org.au/eval_report_11.

Discharge planning for acute coronary syndromes

NPS is working with 49 hospitals to optimise discharge management of acute coronary syndromes (DMACS) in three key areas: prescription of cardiovascular medications; education about lifestyle modifications; and communication with patients and GPs.

Some of the key findings from the DMACS project were:

  • Among 1545 patients with a discharge diagnosis of ACS, guideline-recommended therapies such as antiplatelet agents (97%) and statins (92%) were prescribed most frequently, compared with ACE inhibitor and/or angiotensin II-receptor antagonist (78%) drugs and beta blockers (75%)
  • 57% of 1545 patients with ACS were referred to cardiac rehabilitation before discharge
  • Among 731 GP respondents to a post-discharge survey, 77% reported receiving a discharge summary at the time of survey. Of these 65% rated the quality of information from the hospital to be ‘very good’ to ‘excellent’
  • Among 1319 patients who participated in the phone survey at 90 days post discharge, 48% reported taking a combination of life-saving/guideline-recommended therapies (antiplatelet drugs, beta blockers, angiotensin-modifying drugs and statins).

A hospital-based educational intervention is underway until April 2009. This includes feedback of baseline audit results and promotion of best practice guidelines followed by a repeat audit. The key messages for the multifaceted intervention are to:

  • Initiate a long-term management plan for all patients with ACS
  • Consider guideline-recommended medications for all patients with ACS
  • Identify risk factors and refer all patients with ACS to secondary prevention programs
  • Communicate management plans to the patient, carers and community health care providers.

DMACS is a national quality improvement initiative and is funded and supported by NPS in collaboration with the state Quality Use of Medicines groups in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

The project will be completed by December 2009. For further information please contact Angela Wai at NPS at info@nps.org.au or on 02 8217 8700.

New online tool: NPS Medicine Name Finder

NPS has developed an online tool, the NPS Medicine Name Finder, which helps users to identify the active ingredient in a prescription medication along with any available brand names.

Launched at Parliament House in Canberra on 12 March by Senator Jan McLucas, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing, this tool is our debut in online social innovation. The data supporting the tool is provided by the Department of Health and Ageing and is updated monthly. The tool only covers medicines listed on the PBS.

The NPS Medicine Name Finder is available online at www.nps.org.au/medicinenamefinder. This is a beta version. We welcome your feedback as we test and refine this tool.

The Quality Prescribing Initiative: benefits for general practice

NPS has recently written to general practices to remind them that participation in quality prescribing activities with NPS enables them to access the Quality Prescribing Initiative (QPI) payment.

The QPI is an incentive program under the Practice Incentive Program (PIP). The program is designed to recognise general practices that provide quality care and are either accredited or working towards accreditation under the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ Standards for General Practices.

To participate, practices need to:

  1. Register for the PIP with Medicare Australia (Medicare PIP enquiry line 1800 222 032 or online at www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/pip)
  2. Visit www.nps.org.au/health_professionals/activities/about_points for information on QPI and upcoming QPI activities
  3. Use the QPI planner to plan the number of QPI activities necessary to qualify for the financial incentive for the QPI year May 2009 to April 2010. The planner is available online at www.nps.org.au/qpi_planner.

NPS Facilitators at local divisions of general practice are able to provide advice to practices about the QPI and upcoming QPI activities.

Latest publications

Australian Prescriber (www.australianprescriber.com.au) contains articles on:

  • Pharmaceutical marketing and the internet
  • Prescription pricing demystified
  • Treating dementia
  • Medicinal mishap
  • Treatments for severe psoriasis
  • Dental notes: treatments for severe psoriasis
  • Drug treatments of pituitary tumours
  • New drugs reviews: desvenlafaxine succinate, methylnaltrexone, rivaroxaban, triptorelin embonate, valsartan and combinations.

NPS RADAR (www.npsradar.org.au) has two reviews and two briefsonline ahead of the next full edition which will be published on 1 April. Drugs covered are:

  • Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) for major depressive disorder
  • Valsartan (Diovan) and combinations with hydrochlorothiazide (Co-Diovan) or amlodipine (Exforge)
  • Risedronate (Actonel and Actonel Once-a-Week) for corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis
  • Clopidogrel (Iscover, Plavix) for which the PBS listing was extended to include acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in combination with aspirin.

Latest media releases from NPS

See all NPS media releases online at www.nps.org.au/media_releases.

To receive more information on any of the topics in this newsletter or to change your email address, subscribe or unsubscribe to NPS member update email please send your request to khosking@nps.org.au.

Date published: 2009-03-30 00:00:00

Reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the date of creation. This information is not intended as a substitute for medical advice from a qualified health professional. Health professionals should rely on their own expertise and enquiries when providing medical advice or treatment. Where permitted by law, NPS disclaims all liability (including for negligence) for any loss, damage or injury resulting from reliance on or use of this information. Read our full disclaimer.

References to brands should not be taken as an endorsement by NPS.