How are direct healthcare professional communications (DHPC) operationalised by GPs and community pharmacists in Ireland and what is their impact on prescribing?

Project Summary

DHPCs deliver important medicine safety information directly to healthcare professionals. There is mixed evidence on the effectiveness of DHPCs which may not always have the desired impact on prescribing. This could be due to the lack of understanding of HCP preferences for how they are communicated and operationalised.  Exploring why is important to further understand this issue and optimise patient safety There is a need for research focussing on primary care where the vast majority of prescribing takes place. There is limited research available in Ireland and there are challenges of generalising findings from specific jurisdictions, given the wide variation in health systems. This underscores the need for nationally focused research. This research thesis aimed to explore how direct healthcare professional communications (DHPC) are operationalised by GPs and community pharmacists in Ireland and what their impact on prescribing is.

Objectives:

1. To explore how primary care healthcare professionals (GPs and community pharmacists) operationalise DHPCs in Ireland and their preferences for receiving these updates.

2. To explore the attitudes and perceptions of key stakeholders on drug safety communications for GPs and community pharmacists in Ireland.

3. To examine the impact of DHPCs issued regarding fluoroquinolone and macrolide antibiotics on prescribing trends of fluroquinolones and macrolides over time using Irish primary care dispensing data. 

The research team/supervisor(s)

Dr Paul Ryan, Professor Emma Wallace, Dr Ann Doherty, Professor Stephen Byrne, Dr Darren Dahly, Dr Aisling Jennings