iPLEDGE Weaknesses: Is It Time to Address the Flaws?

January 2016 | Volume 15 | Issue 1 | Original Article | 97 | Copyright © January 2016


Amanda A. Cyrulnik MD,a,b,* Aron J. Gewirtzman MD,a,c,* Karin Blecher Paz MD,a Jaimie B. Glick MD,b
Anika K. Anam MD,b Daniel A. Carrasco MD,c Alan R. Shalita MD,b and Steven R. Cohen MD MPHa

a Unified Division of Dermatology of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
b SUNY Downstate Department of Dermatology, Brooklyn, NY
c Austin Dermatology Associates, Austin, TX
* These authors contributed equally to the preparation of this manuscript.

table 2
patient visit documented that the patient, in fact, had taken the medication during the previous month. An "addition" occurred when isotretinoin was recorded as dispensed in iPLEDGE without a corresponding entry in the medical chart.
IRB approval was obtained for this study.

Statistical Analysis

Data were summarized using descriptive characteristics for all variables.

RESULTS

Patient Characteristics

The mean age in this study was 23.8 years; 51.0% were female. At the two sites recording ethnicity (Einstein and Downstate), Caucasians and Hispanics comprised the largest treatment groups (34.5% and 29.1%, respectively). African Americans (19.4%), Asians (7.8%), and other (2.4%) were also represented, while 6.8% were unknown. Data stratified by site are presented in Table II.
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