GPs' views on computerized drug interaction alerts: questionnaire survey

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• General Practice
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Computerized drug interaction alert systems are used in general practice to prevent hazardous drug combinations.
• However, evidence suggests patients are still prescribed dangerous drug combinations, potentially due to alert overrides by general practitioners (GPs).

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate GPs' perceptions of the relevance of drug interaction alerts.
• To quantify the frequency with which GPs override these alerts without proper verification.
• To identify factors associated with the tendency to override drug interaction alerts.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire survey was distributed to general practitioners (GPs) across four primary care trusts in the Nottingham area, UK.
• Data from 220 respondents utilizing drug interaction alert systems were analyzed.

Main Results:

• 22% of GPs admitted to frequently or very frequently overriding drug interaction alerts without checking them.
• Perceived irrelevance of alerts was a key reason for overriding.
• GPs using the EMIS (Egton Medical Information Systems) computer system were less likely to override alerts compared to users of other systems.

Conclusions:

• A notable proportion of GPs override drug interaction alerts, indicating a potential safety gap.
• The type of electronic health record system may influence alert-overriding behavior.
• Improving alert relevance and system design could enhance medication safety in primary care.