MedTrace Logo

The Effect of Informative Letters on the Prescription and Receipt of Seroquel

NCT02467933 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 5055

Last updated 2021-08-09

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Abusive prescribing exposes patients to unnecessary health risks and results in wasteful public expenditures. This study will evaluate an innovative approach to fighting abusive prescription: sending letters to suspected inappropriate prescribers warning them that they are outliers compared to their peers and have been flagged for review. The study will target high prescribers of Seroquel (Quetiapine), an atypical antipsychotic. Using claims data, the investigators will assess the effect of the letters on prescribing of Seroquel, receipt of Seroquel by patients, substitution behavior by prescribers and patients, and health outcomes of patients.

Conditions

  • Economics
  • Fraud
  • Delivery of Health Care
  • Health Expenditures
  • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (U.S.)

Interventions

OTHER

Placebo letter

The placebo letter describes a new rule in Medicare that requires prescribers to enroll in Medicare

OTHER

Initial Informative letter

The intervention is a letter that describes the Seroquel prescribing activity of the individual in comparison to a peer group of similar prescribers. It highlights the fact that the prescriber's activity is highly unlike her peers.

OTHER

Followup Informative Letter

The followup informative letter is identical to the initial informative letter except it provides an update on more recent prescribing rather than a description of earlier prescribing.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Adam Sacarny, PhD · Columbia University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2015-04-30
Primary Completion
2016-01-31
Completion
2017-04-30

More Related Trials

Entities

Companies

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT02467933 on ClinicalTrials.gov