Clinical reminders attached to echocardiography reports of patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction increase use of β-blockers -: A randomized trial

Background-Although beta-blockers are known to prolong survival for patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, they are often underused. We hypothesized that a reminder attached to the echocardiography report would increase the use of beta-blockers for patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Methods and Results-We randomized 1546 consecutive patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction < 45% found on echocardiography at 1 of 3 laboratories to a reminder for use of beta-blockers or no reminder. Patients were excluded from analysis if they died within 30 days of randomization (n = 89), did not receive medications through the Veterans Affairs system after 30 days ( n = 180), or underwent echocardiography at > 1 laboratory ( n = 6). The primary outcome was a prescription for an oral beta-blocker between 1 and 9 months after randomization. The mean age of the 1271 included patients was 69 years; 60% had a history of heart failure, and 51% were receiving treatment with beta- blockers at the time of echocardiography. More patients randomized to the reminder had a subsequent beta- blocker prescription (74%, 458 of 621) compared with those randomized to no reminder (66%, 428 of 650; P = 0.002). The effect of the reminder was not significantly different for subgroups based on patient location ( inpatient versus outpatient) or prior use of beta-blockers. Conclusions-A reminder attached to the echocardiography report increased the use of beta-blockers in patients with depressed left ventricular systolic function.