Trial results for a study investigating prescriber-pharmacist collaborative care for evidence-based anticoagulant use in conditions including Atrial Fibrillation were posted on ClinicalTrials.gov on 2026-03-30. The study found that existing-prescription notifications sent to prescribers were addressed in 24.86 percent of notifications within seven days.
Background
Atrial Fibrillation, Pulmonary Embolism, and Venous Thromboembolism are conditions often requiring anticoagulant therapy. Ensuring evidence-based anticoagulant use is critical for patient safety and efficacy. This study explored different strategies for implementing prescriber-pharmacist collaborative care, specifically focusing on the effectiveness of notifications and alerts aimed at improving prescription practices. The researchers hypothesized that notifications directed to pharmacists would lead to more prescription changes than those directed to prescribers for existing prescriptions. They also hypothesized that a pharmacist referral option would increase the rate of prescription changes for initial-prescription alerts directed to prescribers.
Trial design
This completed study, designated as Phase NA, enrolled 306 participants across conditions including Pulmonary Embolism, Venous Thromboembolism, and Atrial Fibrillation. The trial investigated the impact of different notification and alert strategies on addressing prescription errors related to anticoagulant use. These strategies included sending existing-prescription notifications to either prescribers or pharmacists, and providing initial-prescription alerts to prescribers either with or without a pharmacist referral option.
Key results
The trial reported several key measurements regarding the proportion of notifications and alerts addressed within seven days:
- For existing-prescription notifications addressed within 7 days:
- Notifications sent to prescribers were addressed in 24.86 percent of notifications.
- Notifications sent to pharmacists were addressed in 21.74 percent of notifications.
- For newly prescribed DOAC alerts addressed within 7 days:
- Alerts without a referral option were addressed in 29.84 percentage of alerts.
- Alerts with a referral option were addressed in 29.10 percentage of alerts.
- Change in effect size for existing-prescription notifications over time for all participants who received notifications included values of 17.58 percent of notifications, 27.95 percent of notifications, and 25.81 percent of notifications.
- Change in effect size for initial alerts over time for all participants who received alerts included values of 30.06 percentage of alerts, 28.47 percentage of alerts, and 29.63 percentage of alerts.
What this means
The results indicate that for existing prescriptions, notifications directed to prescribers were addressed at a slightly higher rate than those directed to pharmacists within a seven-day period. Furthermore, for newly prescribed DOAC alerts, the availability of a pharmacist referral option did not lead to an increased rate of alerts being addressed. These findings do not support the initial hypotheses that pharmacist-directed notifications or a referral option would increase the rate at which prescription issues are addressed. This data provides insights into the effectiveness of different collaborative care models in improving anticoagulant prescribing practices for conditions such as Atrial Fibrillation.
Source
The information regarding these trial results was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a public database of clinical studies. The results for the study titled "Implementing Prescriber-Pharmacist Collaborative Care for Evidence-based Anticoagulant Use" were posted on 2026-03-30 on clinicaltrials.gov.