Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT06443385

E-mails to Nudge Safer and Better-Informed Prescribing of Risky Drugs

This study will test e-mails to encourage engagement with the Minnesota prescription monitoring program (PMP/PDMP) and will evaluate the effect of these e-mails on PMP/PDMP use and controlled substance prescribing.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Opioid Prescribing Chemically-Induced Disorders Drug Misuse Mental Disorders Prescription Drug Misuse Substance-Related Disorders

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

New York, 10032, United States

About this study

Drug overdose deaths have skyrocketed in recent years, and many overdoses continue to involve prescribed medications like opioids and stimulants. At the same time, state prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), which help clinicians prescribe these medications safely, remain underused. In Minnesota, 32% of opioid prescriptions are written by clinicians who do not use the PDMP. In many states, including Minnesota, policymakers have limited tools to raise PDMP use even though it is often required under state law. To address this policy dilemma, this study will test e-mails designed to facilitate PDMP use and evaluate their effects on PDMP use and controlled substance prescribing. This study will include a projected 7,126 physician and physician assistant prescribers of opioids and other controlled substances who lack active PDMP accounts, never query the PDMP, or query the PDMP infrequently relative to their prescribing volume. To generate evidence on clinician motivation for responding to encouragement, the study will randomly vary messaging to focus on legal requirements to use the PDMP vs. clinical benefits of the PDMP.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Minnesota physician or physician assistant
  • Controlled substance prescriber not following state requirements to maintain an active PDMP account, or opioid prescriber not searching the PDMP or infrequently searching the PDMP

Exclusion criteria

  • No e-mail address available

Treatment and study plan

PDMP Legal Mandate E-mail

Behavioral

E-mails highlighting the state's legal requirements to use the PDMP. There will be one initial email and one follow-up email one month later.

PDMP Clinical Benefit E-mail

Behavioral

E-mails highlighting the clinical benefits of having access to the PDMP and checking the PDMP before prescribing opioids. There will be one initial email and one follow-up email one month later.

Primary outcomes

  1. Rate of PDMP Engagement

    Time frame: 2 months

    An indicator for increased PDMP engagement during the 2-month period after the first e-mails were sent. It will indicate whether the level of engagement rose from the baseline level that resulted in the clinician's enrollment into the study. For clinicians who lacked an account, the outcome will indicate whether they created one; for clinicians with an inactive account, the outcome will indicate whether they reactivated it. For those who never searched, it will indicate any search, and for those who rarely searched, it will indicate whether their search rate rose.

  2. Volume of Potentially Guideline-discordant Opioid Prescribing

    Time frame: 2 months

    A composite of several measures of potentially guideline-discordant opioid prescribing. These will include:

    • Opioid co-prescriptions with other opioids
    • Opioid co-prescriptions with benzodiazepines
    • Opioid co-prescriptions with gabapentinoids
    • High daily opioid doses
    • Long-duration opioid prescriptions to opioid-naïve individuals

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Columbia University

Other

Collaborators

  • Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab
  • Bowdoin College
  • Minnesota Board of Pharmacy
  • Minnesota Management and Budget
  • University of Southern California

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2024
Primary completion
2024
Study completion
2025
First posted
Jun 5, 2024
Registry last updated
Feb 11, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.