Impact of an online evidence retrieval system on decision-making in general practice

ISRCTN	ISRCTN03597773
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN03597773
Protocol serial number	N/A
Sponsor	University of New South Wales (Australia) - Centre for Health Informatics
Funder	University of New South Wales (Australia) - Centre for Health Informatics

Submission date: 22/07/2005
Registration date: 09/09/2005
Last edited: 08/11/2022

Recruitment status: No longer recruiting
Overall study status: Completed
Condition category: Other

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Record updated in last year

Plain English summary of protocol

Not provided at time of registration

Contact information

Prof Enrico Coiera
Scientific

Centre for Health Informatics
University of New South Wales
Sydney
2052
Australia

Study information

Primary study design	Interventional
Study design	Randomised controlled trial
Secondary study design	Randomised controlled trial
Scientific title	Impact of an online evidence retrieval system on decision-making in general practice
Study objectives	The aim of this trial is to assess the effectiveness of an online evidence retrieval system in improving clinical decision-making processes in general practice. The specific hypotheses to be tested in this study are that: 1. Online evidence systems are clinically acceptable and will be used by clinicians in real world general practice settings 2. Online evidence systems are effective in changing clinical decision-making behaviour and result in measurable improvements in evidence-based prescribing decisions
Ethics approval(s)	Not provided at time of registration
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied	Online clinical evidence retrieval technology
Intervention	Participants in the intervention group were given access to Quick Clinical an online clinical evidence retrieval system specifically designed around the needs of family physicians. This system is based on the generic use of search filters focused on clinical questions and retrieves evidence from multiple resources including bibliographic databases, textbooks and summarised guidelines. Participants in the control group received no intervention.
Intervention type	Behavioural
Primary outcome measure(s)	The primary outcome measures are clinician acceptance and use of Quick Clinical and the resulting change in decision-making behaviour. Specific outcome measures are: 1. Physician acceptability focusing on ease of use and usefulness and patterns of use of QC 2. Prescribing patterns in clinical priority areas identified at the start of the study 3. Prescribing patterns in response to new evidence of the effectiveness of new or existing treatments 4. Patterns of non-pharmacological clinical management
Key secondary outcome measure(s)	1. Referral patterns 2. Management decisions 3. Number, timing and types of investigations
Completion date	01/05/2006

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Patient
Age group	Adult
Sex	All
Target sample size at registration	200
Key inclusion criteria	Registered general practitioners who had a computer with Internet connectivity and prescribed electronically were studied.
Key exclusion criteria	Clinicians were excluded if they were participating in other studies requiring the provision of prescribing data or if they were planning to retire or move to another practice during the study period.
Date of first enrolment	01/05/2005
Date of final enrolment	01/05/2006

Locations

Countries of recruitment

Australia

Study participating centre

Centre for Health Informatics

Sydney
2052
Australia

Results and Publications

Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	No
IPD sharing plan summary	Not provided at time of registration
IPD sharing plan	Not provided at time of registration

Study outputs

Output type	Details	Date created	Date added	Peer reviewed?	Patient-facing?
Protocol article		24/08/2006		Yes	No

Editorial Notes

08/11/2022: Internal review.