OBJECTIVE To develop and test the validity of a quality-of-care performance measure that examines antibiotic prescribing rates in children diagnosed as having upper respiratory infection (URI) or bronchitis. DESIGN AND METHODS The measure developed examines the annual rate of antibiotic prescribing to children aged 3 months to 18 years with an episode of URI or bronchitis. Administrative data...

BACKGROUND prescribing for older people is a complex process and can elevate the risk of inappropriate prescribing, with potentially severe consequences. With a growing ageing population, strategies to improve prescribing in care homes are essential. Our aim was to review systematically the effects of interventions to optimise prescribing in care homes. METHOD databases searched were MEDLINE,...

OBJECTIVES Prescribing medications is an important challenge in the transition to junior doctor practice. We explored the antimicrobial prescribing experiences of foundation year (FY) doctors in two UK hospitals. The study answers three research questions: (i) What types of antimicrobial prescribing experiences do FY doctors have?; (ii) How do they make sense of their antimicrobial prescribing ...

OBJECTIVE To derive and apply objective criteria which assess the appropriateness of neuroleptic prescribing, in a random sample of nursing homes. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey of prescribing in a random sample of nursing homes. SETTING 22 homes with more than 35 residents in the former South Thames Region. SUBJECTS 934 nursing home residents aged 65 years or over. METHODS We compared c...

INTRODUCTION Addressing pain is a crucial aspect of emergency medicine. Prescription opioids are commonly prescribed for moderate to severe pain in the emergency department (ED); unfortunately, prescribing practices are variable. High variability of opioid prescribing decisions suggests a lack of consensus and an opportunity to improve care. This quality improvement (QI) initiative aimed to red...

OBJECTIVE We conducted a systematic review identifying users groups' perceptions of barriers and facilitators to implementing electronic prescription (e-prescribing) in primary care. METHODS We included studies following these criteria: presence of an empirical design, focus on the users' experience of e-prescribing implementation, conducted in primary care, and providing data on barriers and...

UNLABELLED Prevalence of generalised anxiety disorders is widespread in Great Britain. Previous small-scale research has shown variations in minor tranquiliser prescribing, identifying several potential predictors of prescribing volume. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the relationship between general practice minor tranquiliser prescribing rates and practice population and general p...

BACKGROUND The U.S. Physician Payments Sunshine Act mandates the reporting of payments or items of value received by physicians from drug, medical device, and biological agent manufacturers. The impact of these payments on physician prescribing has not been examined at large scale. METHODS We linked public Medicare Part D prescribing data and Sunshine Act data for 2013. Physician payments wer...

Undergraduate medical education has been criticised for failing to adequately prepare doctors for the task of prescribing. Pharmacists have been shown to improve medication use in hospitals. This study aims to elicit the views of intern doctors on the challenges of prescribing, and to suggest changes in education to enhance prescribing practice and potential role of the pharmacist. Semi-structu...

BACKGROUND Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in children are common and often result in antibiotic prescription despite their typically self-limiting course. AIM To assess the effectiveness of primary care based interventions to reduce antibiotic prescribing for children with RTIs. DESIGN AND SETTING Systematic review. METHOD MEDLINE(®), Embase, CINAHL(®), PsycINFO, and the Cochrane lib...