A new CTTI publication from collaborators including CTTI investigates the impact of educational mailings in increasing the use of oral blood thinners among patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib). For many of these patients, use of blood thinners can reduce their stroke risk by about 70%. Despite current guideline recommendations, only about half of eligible patients with AFib are routinely taking blood thinners, and patient interviews have revealed that patients are undereducated about stroke risk and the potential benefits of preventative blood thinner use. To explore solutions to this educational gap, the IMplementation of a randomized controlled trial to imProve treatment with oral AntiCoagulanTs in patients with Atrial Fibrillation (IMPACT-AFib) identified and sent educational mailings to a subset of eligible patients enrolled in health plans that participate in the FDA’s Sentinel System. The resulting paper, published in JAMA Network Open, found that these mailings were only minimally successful in increasing blood thinner use among AFib patients. These results indicate that more intensive educational interventions may be needed to address this problem. 

This trial was the first ever to leverage the FDA-Catalyst System, which combines data from interactions with patients and/or providers with data from the Sentinel Infrastructure. The collaboration included Aetna, Duke Clinical Research Institute, the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute’s Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, HealthCore Anthem, Humana, Optum, and the FDA.