Description of Strategy
Academic detailing is a practice where “university or non-commercial-based educational outreach” is used to improve the process in which clinicians prescribe specific drugs (Soumerai & Avorn, 1990). It involves visits to clinicians in an effort to provide specific training and technical assistance related to prescription opioids. In this instance, the purpose is to provide evidence-based practices for healthcare providers to use when prescribing opioids, for example, the application of naloxone, or SBIRT. Physicians and other healthcare providers often benefit from this support, allowing them to better serve their patients.
In Wyoming
The National Resource Center for Academic Detailing does not have a presence in Wyoming.
Discussion of Effectiveness
A 2013 study of academic detailing in Staten Island suggested a 29% decrease in opioid-related overdoses (Paone et al., 2015). Likewise, public health officials saw an increase in the number of naloxone prescriptions among clinicians in San Francisco that received academic detailing (Behar et al., 2017). Finally, academic detailing directed toward physicians with the Veteran’s Health Administration saw a significant increase in naloxone prescriptions the following two years (Oliva et al., 2017).
References
Behar, E., Rowe, C., Santos, G. M., Santos, N., & Coffin, P. O. (2017). Academic detailing pilot for naloxone prescribing among primary care providers in San Francisco. Family Medicine, 49(2), 122–126.
Oliva, E. M., Christopher, M. L. D., Wells, D., Bounthavong, M., Harvey, M., Himstreet, J., Emmendorfer, T., Valentino, M., Franchi, M., Goodman, F., Trafton, J. A, & Veterans Health Administration Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution National Support and Development Workgroup. (2017). Opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution: Development of the Veterans Health Administration’s national program. Journal of American Pharmacists Association, 57(2S), S168–S179.
Paone, D., Tuazon, E., Kattan, J., Nolan, M. L., O’Brien, D. B., Dowell, D., Farley, T. A., & Kunins, H. V. (2015). Decrease in rate of opioid analgesic overdose deaths—Staten Island, New York City, 2011-2013. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 64(18), 491–494.
Soumerai, S. B. & Avorn, J. (1990). Principles of educational outreach (‘academic detailing’) to improve clinical decision making. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 263(4), 549–556.