Among the funding in the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided to NIH for comparative effectiveness research is an announcement about funds available to evaluate the impact of ‘information prescriptions.” The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is home to this project and the one-paragraph description of what they’re looking for is as follows:

(05) Comparative Effectiveness Research

05-LM-101  Effect of “Information Prescriptions” on Improving Care by Increasing Compliance with Medication Protocol Given to Discharged Emergency Department Patients. A significant fraction of patients who are given a set of prescriptions, such as when they leave a physician office or the Emergency Department, are known to disregard or curtail recommended medications. Individually tailored information about risks, benefits, costs and treatment options are given by some clinicians as “information prescriptions”, but the effectiveness of “information prescriptions” is not known. Studies in this area should determine value of such “information prescriptions” in improving patient compliance as contrasted to current discharge advice systems or standard office practices. Contact: Dr. Valerie Florance, 301-594-4882, florancev@mail.nih.gov.

However, the NLM confirms that the information prescription projects can address topics other than “medication compliance” and in all kinds of settings besides the ED. If information therapy (Ix) implementers out there are looking for a consultant or evaluation partner to collaborate with on a related project, please contact me at jseidman@ixcenter.org.