Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 14, 2026

E-Patient Counseling Trial (E-PACO): Computer Based Education versus Nurse Counseling for Patients to Prepare for Colonoscopy
Published on: August 1, 2019
Assessing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of audit and feedback on physician's prescribing indicators: study
Fatemeh Soleymani1, Arash Rashidian, Rassoul Dinarvand
1Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmaceutical Management, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran. arashidian@tums.ac.ir.
Background:
Physician prescribing is the most frequent medical intervention with a highest impact on healthcare costs and outcomes. Therefore improving and promoting rational drug use is a great interest. We aimed to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two forms of conducting prescribing audit and feedback interventions and a printed educational material intervention in improving physician prescribing.
Method/Design:
A four-arm randomized trial with economic evaluation will be conducted in Tehran. Three interventions (routine feedback, revised feedback, and printed educational material) and a no intervention control arm will be compared. Physicians working in outpatient practices are randomly allocated to one of the four arms using stratified randomized sampling. The interventions are developed based on a review of literature, physician interviews, current experiences in Iran and with theoretical insights from the Theory of Planned Behavior. Effects of the interventions on improving antibiotics and corticosteroids prescribing will be assessed in regression analyses. Cost data will be assessed from a health care provider's perspective and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios will be calculated.
Discussion:
This study will determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of three interventions and allow us to determine the most effective interventions in improving prescribing pattern. If the interventions are cost-effective, they will likely be applied nationwide.
Trial Registration:
Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials Registration Number: IRCT201106086740N1Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center of TUMS Ethics Committee Registration Number: 90-02-27-07.
Related Concept Videos
Clinical Trials
There are four phases in a clinical trial. A phase one...
Blinding
Pharmacovigilance
This process, termed pharmacovigilance, aims to detect, evaluate, and minimize harmful effects related to medication use. The data collection for pharmacovigilance depends on spontaneous reporting systems, where healthcare professionals or patients voluntarily report suspected ADRs.
In some cases, there...
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast, controlled...
Measurement of Bioavailability: Pharmacodynamic Methods
Nursing Evaluation
Section...