Prescribing activity during a period of self-audit
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Published on: July 27, 2018
Insights
Self-audit of psychotropic prescribing did not alter prescribing patterns. A study found that the practice activity analysis method did not influence doctors' prescription habits, indicating reliable self-auditing.
Area of Science:
- Health Sciences
- Medical Practice
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Self-auditing is a method for healthcare professionals to review their practice.
- Understanding the impact of self-audit on prescribing behavior is crucial for quality improvement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess whether self-auditing of psychotropic prescribing influences actual prescribing activity.
- To determine if the practice activity analysis method affects physician prescribing patterns.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of prescription forms from 34 doctors over a 4-week period (February-March 1980).
- Comparison of prescribing data during an observation week versus control weeks before or after.
- Categorization of prescriptions to include psychotropic drugs and antibiotics.
Main Results:
- One group (n=11) showed a reduction in all prescribing during the observation week, attributed to a prescription form shortage, not the audit.
- The second group (n=23) exhibited no significant differences in prescribing between observation and control weeks.
- The proportion of different drug categories prescribed remained consistent, unaffected by the audit task.
Conclusions:
- The self-audit process, using the practice activity analysis method, did not demonstrably influence the doctors' underlying prescribing behavior.
- Findings suggest that self-audits can provide a reliable reflection of routine prescribing activity.
- Further research could explore potential biases or limitations in self-auditing methodologies.
Abstract:
Prescription forms were obtained for 34 doctors who had been involved in a self-audit of psychotropic prescribing using the practice activity analysis method during the last week of February and the first of March, 1980. The forms were provided by the UK Prescription Pricing Authority after the consent of the participating doctors had been obtained. For 11 of the recorders (group 1) prescription forms were available for February and for the remaining 23 (group 2) for March. For group 1 recorders the two control weeks in the study preceded the observation week and for group 2 recorders they followed it. The total number of prescription forms issued, the number including a psychotropic drug and the number including an antibiotic were compared in the respective observation and control weeks. In group 1 there were uniform reductions of all prescribing during the observation period as compared with the controls. The reduction was attributed to a shortfall in prescription forms identified in the last week of the month. In group 2 there were no differences. The pattern of prescribing indicated by the proportions of drugs in the various categories was consistent throughout. Thus the task of undertaking self-audit did not appear to influence the underlying activity audited.
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