Improving Aspirin Use in Diabetes: A Cluster Randomized Trial

Improving Appropriate Aspirin Use Among Adults With Diabetes in a Primary Care Setting: Using an Electronic Medical Record to Target a Physician-supervised Nurse Practitioner Intervention

Our aim is to determine if a patient-directed intervention is more effective than computerized clinician reminders alone for improving aspirin use in adults with diabetes.

Many patients with diabetes do not use aspirin to prevent cardiovascular events. Quality improvement initiatives involving both patients and physicians may be more effective than physician-directed approaches alone.

In a large urban primary care internal medicine practice, this study seeks to test if a patient-directed intervention is more effective than computerized clinician reminders alone for improving the appropriate use of aspirin in adults with diabetes.

The study design is a cluster-randomized trial by physician. The frequency of self-reported regular aspirin use will be compared between patients cared for by physicians in the computerized reminder alone group and the computerized reminder plus physician-supervised, nurse practitioner intervention group.

Inclusion Criteria:

Diabetes mellitus

• Age at least 40 years old
• At least 2 clinic visits in the 18 months prior to the intervention

Exclusion Criteria:

• Primary care physician declined enrollment