Pragmatic Trial of Messaging to Providers About Treatment of Heart Failure (PROMPT-HF)

A randomized controlled trial to compare the efficacy of an electronic health record-based alert informing providers about evidence-based medications for HFrEF versus usual care (no alert) in outpatient clinics across a single health system.

Data from clinical trials suggest that pharmacological therapies prescribed at appropriate doses will lead to dramatic improvements in survival and hospitalization rates in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Consequently, major cardiovascular societies assign the highest level of recommendation to use these therapies in all eligible patients. However, data from several registries over the last three decades has failed to see use of these evidence based therapies at levels noted in clinical trials, despite aggressive guideline recommendations and promotion by thought leaders in the field. It remains unclear as to why many patients with HFrEF are not on evidence-based therapies, and why the percentages are consistent across national registries over time. One explanation might be that providers know the data regarding evidence-based therapies, but the therapies only benefit a narrow population. Another factor might be a lack of knowledge among providers about the appropriate management of HFrEF patients. A simple way to test this hypothesis is to examine whether electronic health record (EHR) based "best practice advisories" (BPAs) can increase use of evidence based therapies. If found to be effective, these low cost interventions can be rapidly applied across large healthcare systems. This study will conduct a randomized controlled trial across outpatient clinics within a single health system comparing the effectiveness of an EHR-based alerting system that informs practitioners about what evidence-based medications they can prescribe for HFrEF patients versus usual care (no alert). One hundred eligible unique providers will be randomized to an intervention in which an alert will appear for all eligible patients with HFrEF, or to a control group in which no alert appears and usual care will continue, with a target patient enrollment of 1,310. The primary outcome for the trial will be the proportion of patients with HFrEF with an increase in evidence based medical therapies for HFrEF (beta-blockers, ACE-I/ARB/ARNI, MRA, SGLT2i). Secondary outcomes will include 30-day hospital admission rates, 30-day ED visits, one year all-cause mortality, and total 6 month healthcare costs.

Providers will receive a best practice alert for each of their eligible patients upon opening of the order entry screen in the patient's medical record. The alert will inform the provider to the presence of HFrEF and of the patient's current left ventricular ejection fraction and current evidence-based medications for HFrEF. It will also provide access to an order set with recommended evidence-based HFrEF therapies as well as a link to the best available guideline-recommended information regarding the treatment of heart failure.

Best practice alert for the notification of patient HFrEF and recommended evidence-based therapies (NO drugs are being administered in this trial)

Providers will receive a best practice alert for each of their eligible patients upon opening of the order entry screen in the patient's medical record. The alert will inform the provider to the presence of HFrEF and of the patient's current left ventricular ejection fraction and current evidence-based medications for HFrEF. It will also provide access to an order set with recommended evidence-based HFrEF therapies as well as a link to the best available guideline-recommended information regarding the treatment of heart failure.

Assessed as an increase in the number of prescribed targeted evidence-based therapies for HFrEF, including beta-blockers, ACEi, ARBs, ARNIs, MRAs, and SGLT2is.

Assessed from the date of randomization to the date of death from any cause, up to 365 days post-randomization

Assessed from the date of randomization to the date of hospital admission, up to 30 days post-randomization

Assessed from the date of randomization to the date of ED/ER admission, up to 30 days post-randomization

Patient Inclusion Criteria: Age 18 or over Seen in eligible internal medicine or cardiology clinic Left ventricular ejection fraction less than or equal to 40% Registered in the Yale Heart Failure Registry Patient Exclusion Criteria: Opted out of EHR-based research Under hospice care Already receiving each targeted class of evidence-based HFrEF medical therapy Selection of Providers: Practicing at an eligible internal medicine or cardiology clinic High frequency of visits by eligible patients based on retrospective chart review

Deidentified data underlying results for publication will be made available upon publication of results.

Ghazi L, Yamamoto Y, Riello RJ, Coronel-Moreno C, Martin M, O'Connor KD, Simonov M, Huang J, Olufade T, McDermott J, Dhar R, Inzucchi SE, Velazquez EJ, Wilson FP, Desai NR, Ahmad T. Electronic Alerts to Improve Heart Failure Therapy in Outpatient Practice: A Cluster Randomized Trial. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022 Jun 7;79(22):2203-2213. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2022.03.338. Epub 2022 Apr 3.

Ghazi L, Desai NR, Simonov M, Yamamoto Y, O'Connor KD, Riello RJ, Huang J, Olufade T, McDermott J, Inzucchi SE, Velazquez EJ, Wilson FP, Ahmad T. Rationale and design of a cluster-randomized pragmatic trial aimed at improving use of guideline directed medical therapy in outpatients with heart failure: PRagmatic trial of messaging to providers about treatment of heart failure (PROMPT-HF). Am Heart J. 2022 Feb;244:107-115. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2021.11.010. Epub 2021 Nov 20.