Academic detailing is "
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
or
non-commercial
A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that does not, in some sense, involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis. For example, advertising-free community ...
-based educational outreach." The process involves face-to-face education of prescribers by trained
health care professionals, typically
pharmacists
A pharmacist, also known as a chemist ( Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instru ...
,
physicians, or
nurses
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...
. The goal of academic detailing is to improve prescribing of targeted
drugs to be consistent with
medical
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...
evidence from
randomized controlled trials, which ultimately improves patient care and can reduce
health care costs
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiz ...
. A key component of non-commercial or university-based academic detailing programs is that they (academic detailers/clinical educators, management, staff, program developers, etc.) do not have any financial links to the
pharmaceutical industry
The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...
.
Academic detailing has been studied for over 25 years and has been shown to be effective at improving prescribing of targeted medications about 5% from baseline. Though it is primarily used to affect prescribing, it is also used to educate providers regarding other
non-drug interventions, such as
screening guidelines.
Organizations
Many academic detailing programs exist around the world. In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, university-based state programs exist in
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
, Oregon and
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
. The nonprofit organization Alosa Health runs an academic detailing program in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Washington, DC called the Independent Drug Information Service (IDIS). The National Resource Center for Academic Detailing (NaRCAD), funded by the
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ; pronounced "ark" by initiates and often "A-H-R-Q" by the public) is one of twelve agencies within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The agency is headquartered i ...
(AHRQ) in 2010, was created to help organizations with limited resources to establish and improve their own programs and to create a network of academic detailing programs. The
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...
Pharmacy Benefits Management pilot tested the National Academic Detailing Service in 2010 to enhance veterans' outcomes by empowering clinicians and promoting the use of evidence-based treatments using delivered by clinical pharmacy specialists. After the pilot, in March 2015, the Interim Under Secretary for Health issued a memorandum requiring implementation of AD programs throughout the
Veterans Health Administration
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the component of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) led by the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health that implements the healthcare program of the VA through a nationa ...
.
Programs also exist in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
through the
Canadian Academic Detailing Collaboration (CADC), including the Centre for Effective Practice's (CEP) academic detailing service in Ontario,
and
Australia through the
Drug and Therapeutics Information Service (DATIS) and the
National Prescribing Service (NPS). In Belgium academic detailing is provided by Project Farmaka.
See also
*
Comparative effectiveness research
Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is the direct comparison of existing health care interventions to determine which work best for which patients and which pose the greatest benefits and harms. The core question of comparative effectiveness ...
*
Evidence-based medicine
*
Pharmaceutical marketing
Many countries have measures in place to limit advertising by pharmaceutical companies.
Pharmaceutical company spending on marketing generally exceeds that of its research budget. In Canada, $1.7 billion was spent in 2004 to market drugs to physi ...
*
Prescription drug prices in the United States
Prescription drug list prices in the United States continually rank among the highest in the world. The high cost of prescription drugs became a major topic of discussion in the 21st century, leading up to the American health care reform debate ...
*
Randomized controlled trials
*
Physician detailing
References
* {{cite journal, last1=Silva, first1=JM, last2=Stein, first2=AT, last3=Schünemann, first3=HJ, last4=Bordin, first4=R, last5=Kuchenbecker, first5=R, last6=de Lourdes Drachler, first6=M, title=Academic detailing and adherence to guidelines for Group B streptococci prenatal screening: a randomized controlled trial., journal=BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, date=19 March 2013, volume=13, pages=68, pmid=23510061, doi=10.1186/1471-2393-13-68, pmc=3610286
Medical education