Increasing lipid adherence to goal

BackgroundIn April 2004, the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III Guidelines for management of high cholesterol encouraged even lower levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) than previous guidelines for high and very high risk groups. Assessing patients' risk factors to determine LDL goals is the first step to help guide therapy.ObjectiveTo determine whether the use of the Mobile Lipid Clinic Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) Calculator during office visits will increase the number of patients achieving their LDL goal compared to using electronic medical records or conventional methods.MethodsFour family medicine residency programs affiliated with the Northeastern Ohio Network participated with each site using a different method. The PDA site used the Mobile Lipid Clinic Calculator, the second site used electronic health records (EHRs), the control site used usual care methods, and the transition site moved from paper charts to EHRs during the study. In 2006, baseline chart reviews were conducted to randomly enroll 100 patients per site (aged 40–75 years) with LDL levels at least 10% above goal. In 2007, follow-up chart reviews were conducted on the same patients to determine reductions in LDL and the percent of patients that reached their LDL goals.ResultsThe percentage reaching their LDL goal and option goal were as follows: PDA site 27% and 12%, EHR site 19% and 3%, control site 4% and 1%, transition site 32% and 12%. Cholesterol-lowering medication usage increased significantly from 38% at baseline to 47% at follow-up (χ2 = 149.5, P <0.0001).ConclusionsUsing a PDA tool can be just as effective as EHRs in getting patients to their LDL goal and is better than some conventional methods, suggesting the benefit of utilizing technology to improve patient care and health outcomes.