Improving adherence to coronary heart disease secondary prevention medication guidelines at a community hospital.

Using a two-period group randomized study, we tested whether a technology assisted pharmacist intervention improved physician adherence to coronary heart disease (CHD) secondary prevention medication guidelines. After an observation period, physician practices were randomized to intervention or control arms. In the intervention arm, alerts prompted a pharmacist to communicate with the responsible physician about secondary prevention medications. The intervention significantly improved the proportion of patients discharged on appropriate secondary prevention medications.