Prevalence and factors affecting home blood pressure documentation in routine clinical care: a retrospective study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Home blood pressure (BP) is closely linked to patient outcomes. However, the prevalence of its documentation has not been examined. The objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence and factors affecting documentation of home BP in routine clinical care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective study of 142,973 encounters of 9,840 hypertensive patients with diabetes from 2000 to 2005 was performed. The prevalence of recorded home BP and the factors associated with its documentation were analyzed. We assessed validity of home BP information by comparing the difference between home and office BP to previously published prospective studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Home BP was documented in narrative notes for 2.08% of encounters where any blood pressure was recorded and negligibly in structured data (EMR flowsheets). Systolic and diastolic home BP in narrative notes were lower than office BP readings by 9.6 and 2.5 mm Hg, respectively (p < 0.0001 for both), consistent with prospective data. Probability of home BP documentation increased by 23.0% for each 10 mm Hg of office systolic BP (p < 0.0001), by 6.2% for each $10,000 in median income of zip code (p = 0.0055), and by 17.7% for each decade in the patient's age (p < 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Home BP readings provide a valid representation of the patient's condition, yet are seldom documented despite their potential utility in both patient care and research. Strong association between higher patient income and home BP documentation suggests that the cost of the monitors may be a limiting factor; reimbursement of home BP monitoring expenses should be pursued.</p

Using a Clinical Data Repository to Estimate the Frequency and Costs of Adverse Drug Events

As a result of increased attention to medical errors, many institutions are contemplating increased use of information technology and clinical decision support. We conducted a retrospective analysis to estimate the frequency and cost of adverse drug events (ADEs) for inpatients at the University of Virginia. Applying published criteria for the detection of potential adverse events, we used a clinical data warehouse to identify patients and cases with potential ADEs. Again using published criteria, we then estimated the actual number of adverse drug events and preventable adverse drug events, as well as their attributable costs and excess length of stay. Our results showed a higher estimate (10.4-11.5 events per 100 admissions) for ADEs than seen in the ADE Prevention Study, highlighting the importance of considering the generalizability of published ADE studies to other settings. Our analysis demonstrates that retrospective analysis can be an efficient and powerful technique to evaluate rules and criteria used to detect ADEs and to assess their impact