COMPUS Communiqué — Vol. 4, No. 12

January 20, 2009

In This Issue

Final Reports on Insulin Analogues

The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), through its COMPUS program, is pleased to announce the release of the following final Optimal Therapy Reports for the prescribing and use of insulin analogues:

 

This report, developed by the COMPUS Expert Review Committee (CERC), contains 16 recommendations and suggestions to optimize the prescribing and use of insulin analogues for the treatment of diabetes in Canada. Key discussion points from the deliberative process are also provided to help clinicians, patients, and policy decision makers interpret and apply these recommendations in the real world.

 

The report also identifies research gaps regarding the use of insulin analogues and serves as the basis for key messages to encourage the uptake of the recommendations in jurisdictions across the country.

 

This report identifies practice and knowledge gaps related to insulin analogues and provides user-friendly key messages to promote the optimal prescribing and use of these products among clinicians, patients, and policy decision makers. The gaps were identified by comparing the Optimal Therapy Recommendations for the Prescribing and Use of Insulin Analogues with the following reports:

 

The next step in this project is the development and dissemination of various intervention tools to transfer this knowledge to health professionals, policy decision makers, and consumers.

Upcoming Consultations on the Blood Glucose Test Strips Topic

COMPUS will soon be inviting all interested parties to provide feedback and comments on two draft Optimal Therapy Reports — Systematic Review of the Use of Blood Glucose Test Strips for the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus and Cost-effectiveness of Blood Glucose Test Strips in the Management of Adult Patients with Diabetes. You will receive another Communiqué to officially announce the consultation period, currently slated for the beginning of February 2009.

 

The goal of the systematic review is to identify and synthesize the available clinical evidence on the efficacy and safety of self-monitoring of blood glucose in patients with type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes.

 

The objective of the economic assessment is to establish the cost-effectiveness of self-monitoring of blood glucose using blood glucose test strips by adult patients with diabetes.

The final reports will provide the detailed clinical and economic evidence used in the development of COMPUS Optimal Therapy Recommendations on Blood Glucose Test Strips.

COMPUS Launches Rx for Change Online Tutorial

 

An online tutorial is now available to help users navigate the Rx for Change interventions database — a unique database that summarizes current research evidence about the effects of strategies to improve drug prescribing and use.

The tutorial is the latest in a series of tools designed to help health professionals and decision makers in their efforts to enhance clinical practice, change prescribing behaviour, and promote optimal drug use. It provides an outline of how the database is organized, an overview of the interventions available, tips on selecting appropriate interventions, and case studies to demonstrate how to use the database in real world situations.

COMPUS welcomes your feedback on this important addition to Rx for Change — please send comments or questions to rxforchange@cadth.ca and visit the database at www.rxforchange.ca.

CADTH Employment Opportunities

CADTH is seeking candidates for a variety of positions that are posted on the Careers page.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback. Tell us what you think of the COMPUS Communiqué.