UK Rx Decision Support: Progress With PRODIGY

The PRODIGY (Prescribing Rationally with Decision Support in General Practice) computerized decision-support system being piloted in the UK is primarily a research project to test its value and acceptability, according to Charles Dobson, head of the prescribing branch at the UK National Health Service Executive. Only secondarily is it a development process which might result in a "product" suitable for widescale voluntary use, he told IMS International's annual conference in Brussels this month (Marketletter November 11).

This emphasis on the research aspect of the project has caused some difficulties, he said. For example, while the Executive's unwillingness to release early results has been interpreted as a lack of openness, he feels this will increase enormously its value as a whole, even if the end result is not an immediately viable "product."

GPs Are Still Keen, But Seek Improvements Project development consists of three successive cycles: Phase I: refinement of the system and knowledge base; Phase II: testing in over 130 general practices; and Phase III: evaluation, with a decision to abort or proceed to national implementation at the end of Phase II. Development has now reached the end of Phase I, and while evaluation is still in progress a number of key findings have emerged.