The Nelson Prescribing Project. A programmed intervention in general practice in New Zealand

Area of Science:

• General Practice
• Pharmacoeconomics
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Prescribing patterns in general practice require effective modification strategies.
• Interventions aim to improve medication appropriateness and reduce healthcare costs.
• Locally developed programs can be tailored to specific practice needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effect and acceptability of a locally developed general practice program designed to modify prescribing behavior.
• To assess changes in the prescribing of preferred medicines and overall medication expenditure.
• To determine the impact on benzodiazepine prescribing within general practice.

Main Methods:

• A voluntary, multimodal intervention program was implemented for general practitioners (GPs).
• The program included prescription analysis, feedback, pharmacist visits, a therapeutic bulletin, and a preferred medicines list.
• Prescribing data from 26 GPs were compared pre-intervention and mid-intervention (8 months post-introduction).

Main Results:

• Significant increase in prescribing of preferred medicines for 20 out of 26 GPs.
• Overall prescription numbers decreased by 8.3% and total medicines expenditure by 4.9%.
• A marked decrease in benzodiazepine prescribing was observed (mean -22.2%).

Conclusions:

• The cooperative, multimodal intervention program was highly successful in modifying prescribing in general practice.
• The approach demonstrated effectiveness in promoting the use of preferred medicines and reducing overall prescribing and expenditure.
• The study highlights the potential of tailored, collaborative interventions to improve prescribing quality and efficiency.