Novel Application of Simulation for Providers to Overcome Decisional Gaps in High-risk Prescribing

Medication Administered in Error Clinical Trial

Official title:

Novel Application of Simulation for Providers to Overcome Decisional Gaps in High-risk Prescribing

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04668248
• Other study ID #: 2020P003643
• Secondary ID: 5P30AG064199-02
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: March 29, 2021
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2021

Study information

• Verified date: January 2023
• Source: Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This pilot project aims to reduce the prescribing of high-risk medications, such as antipsychotics and benzodiazepines, to hospitalized older adults. To accomplish this, this project consists of two phases. The purpose is to determine whether a novel simulation-based training program reduces prescribing of suboptimal medications for older adults. A 2-arm pilot randomized controlled trial will be conducted to test a simulation-based, principle-driven intervention targeting high-risk prescribing practices versus control.

Description:

The overarching goal is to determine whether a newly-designed simulation-based training program for providers based on underlying principles of System 1 and System 2 thinking reduces prescribing of high-risk medications for hospitalized older adults versus control, with the ultimate goal of improving patient safety. Subsequent prescribing for patients cared for by other providers and other adoption and implementation outcomes will be measured to explore the extent to which the intervention could be used at scale.

36 interns practicing on the general medicine inpatient service at Brigham and Women's Hospital will be assigned to the "twilight" team. Interns who consent will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to one of 2 arms: (a) Arm 1: simulation training and (b) Arm 2: control (online educational training).

Patients who will be included in the analysis will include adults ≥65 years old who are admitted to the BWH/BWFH general medicine service under the care of one of the consenting interns (specifically, with the intern listed as the "Responding Clinician")

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 47
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2021
• Est. primary completion date: December 31, 2021
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Residents and interns at Brigham and Women's Hospital will be eligible for this trial if they care for older adults (age 65+) admitted to one of the general medicine wards during an evening shift.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Antipsychotics and Neuroleptics Toxicity
• Medication Administered in Error

Intervention

Other:
• Simulation
The simulation will consist of a one-time, short immersive simulation session at the STRATUS Center for Medical Education at BWH. The session will be conducted for up to one intern at the same time, in accordance with social distancing practices at BWH. This simulation session will consist of one short, hands-on scenario of simulated patient experiences with expert facilitators in the simulated hospital rooms to help providers identify when they are in the hot state and their reactions, and work on improving communication skills, differential diagnoses, and alternative therapeutic options. These scenarios are intended to simulate both in-person and virtual interactions that are common in the inpatient setting. During these trainings, we will use behavioral principles like time pressure and increasing cognitive load to simulate a "hot state" environment. After the scenarios, the facilitator will perform a debriefing session for the interns.
• Online educational training
Providers assigned to the control arm will receive online educational training about other poorly-prescribed medications, including albumin, transfusion, and blood product repletion guidelines. This information will be in the form of electronically-delivered links to information already housed and available at BWH, including reviewing BWH guidelines and literature about transfusion reactions. The interns will be asked to answer several clinical questions about optimal prescribing. Albumin and related products are also high-risk medications often overprescribed on twilight shifts.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Brigham and Women's Hospital	Boston	Massachusetts

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Brigham and Women's Hospital	Ideas42, National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Number and Percentage of Participants Signing Consent Forms	Percentage of consenting providers out of those eligible (measured by the Amion scheduling system)	Between study initiation and end of recruitment up to 10 months
Other	Rate of Simulation or Online Educational Training Completion	Rate of simulation training completion or online educational training completion	2 week follow-up period
Other	Feedback and Issues Reported by the Interns or Study Staff	Feedback and issues reported by the interns or study staff (measured in the endline questionnaire)	Between study initiation and end of recruitment up to 10 months
Other	Satisfaction With the Intervention	Satisfaction with the intervention (measured in the endline questionnaire). This item was measured using several validated questions. The final summary question is used to summarize satisfaction, with the percentage of those strongly agreeing with the statement that "I learned new information during participation in the study that I would not have learned otherwise" shown by each arm below.	2 week follow-up period
Primary	High-risk Medication Doses	This will include the number of pills or injection order of high-risk medications (i.e., anti-psychotics, benzodiazepines, and sedative hypnotic "Z-drugs") administered to eligible patients (i.e., those 65 or older not previously on one of these medications)	Within 2-week service block of participating provider
Secondary	Percentage of Patients Discharged With Inappropriate Medications	Percentage of patients discharged with inappropriate medications, measured through electronic health record data	2 week follow-up period