Electronic Health Record Intervention and Deprescribing for Older Adults

Do 2 behavioral science–informed electronic health record (EHR) interventions increase deprescribing of potentially inappropriate medications in older adults compared with usual care?This 3-group randomized clinical trial of 201 primary care physicians (PCPs) and 1146 patients aged 65 years or older assessed whether precommitment and boostering intervention in the EHR would increase deprescribing rates compared with usual care. The precommitment intervention, which initiated sequential EHR notifications during patient visits prompting PCPs to start discussions with patients and subsequently reminded PCPs to deprescribe at the next visit, increased deprescribing rates by 10.4% compared with usual care, and the boostering interventions, in which EHR notifications presented during patient visits followed by in-basket reminders, increased deprescribing rates by 6.5%, compared with usual care.EHR notifications that incorporated behavioral strategies improved deprescribing of potentially inappropriate medications in older adults.

Corresponding Author: Julie C. Lauffenburger, PharmD, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 1620 Tremont St, Ste 3030, Boston, MA 02120 (jlauffenburger@bwh.harvard.edu).

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