Smart About Meds (SAM) RCT
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
Introduction:
Almost half of patients discharged from hospital are re-admitted or return to the emergency department (ED) within 90 days. Patient nonadherence to medication changes during hospitalization and the use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) both contribute to the risk of adverse events post-discharge. Smart About Meds (SAM) is a patient-centered mobile application designed to target medication nonadherence and PIMs use. This protocol describes a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of SAM.
Methods & Analysis:
A pragmatic, stratified RCT will be conducted among 3,200 patients discharged from internal medicine, cardiac care, and hospitalist units of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal General Hospital, and Lachine Hospital. At discharge, patients will be randomized 1:1 to usual care or the SAM intervention. SAM integrates novel user-centered features (e.g. continuously updated medication list with pill images, side-effect checker, interaction checker) with pharmacist monitoring to tackle post-discharge nonadherence to new medication regimens. SAM also notifies patients of PIMS in their regimen, with advice to discuss with their physician.
Following discharge, patients will be followed for 90 days, during which the occurrence of the composite outcome of ED visits, hospital readmissions, or death will be measured. Secondary outcomes will include nonadherence to medication changes, defined as failure to fill a new prescription, filling a modified prescription at the incorrect dose, or filling discontinued medications, as well as patient empowerment and health-related quality of life.
An intention-to-treat analysis will evaluate the effectiveness of SAM. Multivariable logistic regression will estimate differences between treatment groups in the proportion of patients nonadherent to at least one medication change. With a sample size of 3,200, there will be 80% power to detect a 5% absolute reduction in this outcome. Two-way interaction terms will test hypothesized modifiers of SAM's effectiveness, including hospital, unit, age, sex, gender and comorbidity burden. Binary and continuous secondary outcomes will be assessed using multivariable logistic and linear regression, respectively.
| Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
|---|---|---|
|
N/A |
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
| Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
|---|---|
| Experimental: Intervention (SAM app) Patients will receive training in and access to the SAM app at discharge. SAM uses prescribed and dispensed medication data to display a continuously updated drug list and provides patients and caregivers with tools to address barriers to adherence. Drug information: Provides patient-friendly drug monographs. Interaction checker: Generates drug-drug interactions between the patient's medications and other OTC drugs. Adherence alerts: Uses decision algorithms to alert users to adherence problems with the new regimen. Side effect checker: Displays possible side effects for each medication and frequency of occurrence. PIMs alerts: Alerts patients to potentially inappropriate medications in their list. Pharmacist connect: Connects users with pharmacists through a secured messaging service. Social connect: Allows users to share medication experiences. Caregiver connect: Allows patients to enroll caregivers who can use the app. Weekly medication schedule & pill reminders |
Device: SAM mobile application
See description of intervention group
|
| No Intervention: Control (usual care) Patients will receive usual care at discharge. On study units, medication reconciliation is conducted for all patients. Patients have their community medication list obtained via fax from their community pharmacy. The list is validated by the unit pharmacist who then reconciles it with admission orders, and recommends changes as needed to the attending physician. At discharge, the community drug list is reconciled with medications administered in hospital and the discharge prescription is generated by the attending physician or resident, classifying each medication as new medication, dose modification, discontinued therapy, or continued community medication. The discharge prescription is provided to the patient. Patients fill their discharge prescription at their community pharmacy. If there are questions about changes to the community drug list, the pharmacist will ask the patient, and if not clear will contact the discharging physician. |
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- ED visits, hospital readmissions, and deaths (composite) [90 days post-discharge]
This is a composite, binary outcome of having experienced an ED visit, hospital readmission, or death in the 90 days post-discharge. In Quebec, physicians must record the location of the services they provide to be remunerated on a fee-for-service basis. These medical services claims data are timely and accurate in measuring hospitalization occurrence and length of stay. The hospitalization database, which records admission and discharge diagnoses and procedures for all acute care hospitalizations in Quebec, will be used to collect additional descriptive information on the reasons for hospitalization and to re-validate the medical services data. Patients will be classified as having an ED visit or hospital readmission if they received a service whose location is recorded as an ED or inpatient hospital unit, respectively. Post-discharge deaths will be retrieved from the RAMQ beneficiary database.
Secondary Outcome Measures
- Nonadherence to medication changes [90 days post-discharge]
This is a binary outcome of a patient having adhered or not to medication changes in the discharge prescription. Nonadherence to medication changes is defined as a failure to fill a new prescription within 90 days of discharge, filling a modified prescription at the incorrect dose, or filling any discontinued medication in 90 days.
- Patient and caregiver empowerment [90 days post-discharge]
Patient and caregiver empowerment will be measured using the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Self-Efficacy Measure for Managing Medication and Treatments (PROMIS-SE Meds). This 8-item measure assesses patient confidence in managing medication schedules of varying complexity and in challenging situations, such as when running out of supply or when adverse effects occur. Five-point ratings scales assess confidence levels. Scores are calibrated as T-scores (mean 50, SD 10), where higher scores indicate greater self efficacy.
- Patient health-related quality of life [90 days post-discharge]
Patient health-related quality of life (HRQoL) will be measured using the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System-29 (PROMIS-29), which measures quality of life in seven health domains (physical function, fatigue, pain interference, depressive symptoms, anxiety, ability to participate in social roles and activities, and sleep disturbance). Five-point ratings scales assess HRQoL. Scores are calibrated as T-scores (mean 50, SD 10), where higher scores indicate greater self HRQoL.
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
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Covered by provincial (RAMQ) health insurance plan
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Covered by provincial (RAMQ) prescription drug insurance plan
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Owns a smartphone or tablet with internet connection
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At least one medication change made at discharge
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Speak and read English or French
Exclusion Criteria:
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Discharged to rehab
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Transferred to a non-study unit
Contacts and Locations
Locations
No locations specified.Sponsors and Collaborators
- Robyn Tamblyn
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Investigators
None specified.Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Publications
None provided.- 2022-7858