Table 2.
Causes of clarification contacts, presented according to type of prescription, in three mail-order pharmacies over a three week period.
| All prescriptions (N = 31225) |
Refill prescriptions (N = 16860) |
New ePrescriptions (N = 7532) |
New non-electronic prescriptions (N = 6833) |
Relative risk (95% CI) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of prescriptions necessitating a clarification contact | 312 | 86 | 147 | 79 | 1.7 (1.3–2.2) |
| Total number of causes of clarification contacts | 348 | 103 | 150 | 95 | - |
| Causes | |||||
| Incorrect or incomplete prescribing | |||||
| Drug, strength, dosage form | 45 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 0.5 (0.3–0.9) |
| Dosage and directions for use | 73 | 21 | 48 | 4 | 7.6 (2.8–20.4) |
| Quantity or duration of therapy | 21 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 0.6 (0.3–1.6) |
| Other | 39 | 8 | 14 | 17 | 0.5 (0.3–1.0) |
| Prescriber, patient, or discount information | 23 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 0.3 (0.1–0.8) |
| Interactions | |||||
| Drug-drug | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1.3 (0.1–13.8) |
| Other causes | |||||
| Adverse effects, toxicity, illegible prescription, falsified prescription, patients' concerns, missing date, or other | 44 | 16 | 17 | 11 | 1.0 (0.5–2.0) |
| Drug temporarily unavailable or withdrawn from the market | 97 | 38 | 39 | 20 | 1.2 (0.8–2.0) |