PharmacyeAMS-PharmNCT07038642
The Electronic Asthma Management System in Pharmacies
A study testing Pharmacy Clinical Decision Support System for Asthma Management in people with Pharmacy and Asthma Management, run by Unity Health Toronto at 3 sites in Canada.
Trial summary
The goal of this study is to assess the effect of an electronic asthma management system in pharmacies (eAMS-Pharm) on asthma control assessment, asthma medication adjustment, asthma action plan delivery, and prompting for specialist referral in severe asthma. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 16 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Pharmacy, Asthma Management, Asthma
- What is being tested?
- Pharmacy Clinical Decision Support System for Asthma Management
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 100 participants
- Where
- 3 sitesCanada
- Study dates
- 23 Jun 2025to 15 Jan 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 16 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Child, Adult, Older adult
- Eligible patients would be those who have asthma and are seen at one of the three study pharmacies during the study period
- Eligible pharmacy team members would be staff (pharmacists/RPhTs/assistants/students) at any one of the three study pharmacies
Trial locations and contacts
3 sites in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Canada3 sites
Medical Place Pharmacy
Ajax, Ontario, L1L 2J5
LiveWell Pharmacy
Niagara Falls, Ontario, L2J 2K5
Westmount Place Pharmacy
Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 2R5
About this study
Official title: The Electronic Asthma Management System in Pharmacies (eAMS-Pharm)
The goal of this study is to assess the effect of an electronic asthma management system in pharmacies (eAMS-Pharm) on asthma control assessment, asthma medication adjustment, asthma action plan delivery, and prompting for specialist referral in severe asthma. The study assesses the differences on pharmacy processes (affecting both the pharmacy team and patients) and pharmacy-delivered care using an interrupted time-series analysis (six-months before vs. six-months after the introduction of eAMS-Pharm in study pharmacy sites).
The eAMS-Pharm uses patient data (asthma control, asthma flare-up risk, and current medications) to provide clinical decision support to pharmacists, empowering them to bridge existing gaps between guideline-recommended asthma care and patient care received.
Read the detailed description
Asthma is the third most common chronic disease in adults and is increasing in prevalence. Although effective therapies exist and well-controlled asthma is achievable in most patients, studies demonstrate that up to 90% of Canadians with asthma are poorly controlled. This poor control and associated health system burden are attributable to 4 major gaps in care: 1) failure to ascertain asthma control according to guideline criteria; 2) failure to escalate pharmacotherapy in response to suboptimal control; 3) failure to provide a written asthma action plan (AAP) (a personalized plan produced by a health care professional for a patient, providing education and guidance for self-management of flares); and 4) failure to refer patients with severe asthma to specialty care for biologic therapies (these were 4 of the 6 quality statements in Health Quality Ontario's Asthma Quality Standards).
The Electronic Asthma Management System (eAMS) is a validated tool that has the potential to address the 4 major gaps in care. The eAMS consists of a web-based portal-based e-questionnaire, which collects asthma parameters directly from patients. A point-of-care Computerized Decision Support System (CDSS) receives and processes questionnaire data to produce guideline-based decision support such as assessments of asthma control, relevant medication change recommendations, and a personalized asthma action plan (AAP). There are also web-based education resources in the patient portal. The eAMS was proven to improve asthma management in primary care across these care gaps and is used in 16 primary care clinics, with ~215 providers and ~7200 patients with asthma. Now, with the increasingly critical role that pharmacists are playing in Canada's healthcare ecosystem, the eAMS can also be used to empower pharmacists to help optimize chronic disease care.
Pharmacists' scope of practice is growing rapidly in Ontario and across Canada. At the same time, asthma control remains suboptimal for millions of Canadians. Furthermore, the eAMS has been extensively studied and validated as an optimal tool to improve asthma management in primary care. The use of the eAMS in pharmacies presents a unique opportunity to involve pharmacists in chronic disease care while also reducing the burden on primary care. To address limited primary care access and given rapid the expansion of pharmacists' role of in care delivery, the investigators adapted the platform to build the eAMS-Pharm - a chronic disease quality improvement tool for pharmacists. The results of this study will inform the broader implementation of the eAMS across pharmacies and similar knowledge translation tools in pharmacies in the future.
- Being tested
- Pharmacy Clinical Decision Support System for Asthma Management
- Keywords
- Asthma, Pharmacy, Asthma management, Computerized decision support system
- Medical subject headings
- Asthma
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Pharmacy Clinical Decision Support System for Asthma ManagementBehavioural
A pharmacy clinical decision support system that generates individualized advice for asthma patients is provided to the pharmacist/RPht/assistant/student.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Control - None | No intervention | A retrospective, pharmacy chart review will assess pharmacy-delivered care in the six-month pre-intervention period. |
| Intervention - The Electronic Asthma Management System in Pharmacies (eAMS-Pharm) | Active comparator | Throughout the intervention period, the eAMS-Pharm will be provided to pharmacists/RPhTs/assistants/students (for use in eligible patients). Receives: Behavioral: Pharmacy Clinical Decision Support System for Asthma Management |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Medication adjustments
Using pharmacist chart review, the investigators will assess the proportion and trend in patients receiving medication adjustments
Measured: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Asthma control assessment
Using pharmacist chart review, the investigators will assess the proportion and trend of patients receiving asthma control assessment by guideline criteria
Measured: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Asthma action plan creation
Using pharmacist chart review, the investigators will assess the proportion and trend of asthma action plans being created for patients
Measured: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Secondary outcomes (15)
System usage: virtual and in-person visit frequency
Using pharmacist chart review, investigators will assess the number of times the system was used in virtual (i.e., telemedicine) visits and in in-person visits
Measured: 6 months
System usage: content access frequency
Using system analytics, investigators will assess the type of content accessed (clinical tools, clinical decisions, educational materials) by patients and pharmacy teams
Measured: 6 months
System usage: patient engagement frequency, by method
Using system analytics, investigators will assess the number of patients who engaged with the system by the programmatic (mass invite) method, or as a walk-in patient following programmatic invitations
Measured: 6 months
System usage: time required for access and documentation
Using system analytics, investigators will assess how long it takes pharmacy teams to access and complete clinical decision making within the system. Last screen timestamp minus first screen timestamp will be used to measure time
Measured: 6 months
Quantitative patient Likert-Scale questionnaire
Exclusively throughout the intervention, electronic questionnaires developed by the investigators will be sent to consenting patients to assess quantitative patient feedback on system functionality and care quality received, as 5-point Likert scales. Multiple choice and yes/no questions will also bee used to determine demographics and relevant asthma diagnosis information
Measured: 6 months
Qualitative patient free-text feedback questionnaire
Exclusively throughout the intervention, electronic questionnaires developed by the investigators will be sent to consenting patients to assess qualitative patient feedback on benefits and drawbacks of the system, as measured through two free-text questions
Measured: 6 months
Pharmacy team feedback: 10-item System Usability Scale - SUS
Exclusively throughout the intervention, electronic questionnaires developed by the investigators will be sent to consenting pharmacy team members to assess feedback on system usability, as measured by The System Usability Scale (SUS), a 10-item 5-point Likert scale
Measured: 6 months
Quantitative pharmacy Likert-Scale questionnaire
Exclusively throughout the intervention, electronic questionnaires developed by the investigators will be sent to consenting pharmacy team members to assess quantitative pharmacy team feedback on technology interest, role of pharmacies in chronic disease care and asthma action plans, system functionality, and benefits and drawbacks of the system on pharmacy workflows, as measured with 5-point Likert scales
Measured: 6 months
Qualitative pharmacy free-text feedback questionnaire
Exclusively throughout the intervention, electronic questionnaires developed by the investigators will be sent to consenting pharmacy team members to assess qualitative pharmacy team feedback on system usage, as measured through 6 free text questions. To supplement the outcome of revenue metrics, the pharmacy team feedback questionnaire will also ask pharmacy team members to estimate revenue for time spent
Measured: 6 months
Prescription/action plan sign-back proportions
Using pharmacist chart review, the investigators will assess the proportion of prescriptions/action plans which receive sign-back from prescribers in each analysis period
Measured: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Revenue metrics: pharmaceutical opinion proportion
Using pharmacist chart review, the investigators will assess the proportion of eligible visits for which a pharmaceutical opinion was successfully billed
Measured: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Revenue metrics: MedsCheck proportion
Using pharmacist chart review, the investigators will assess the proportion of eligible visits for which a MedsCheck was successfully billed
Measured: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Revenue metrics: total dollar revenue per patient
Using pharmacist chart review, the investigators will assess the total average revenue per eligible patient by summing pharmaceutical opinion, MedsChecks, markups, and dispensing fees
Measured: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Revenue metrics: dollar reimbursement for time spent in system
Using pharmacist chart review, the investigators will assess the overall reimbursement for time pharmacy team members spent in the system. To measure, investigators will sum the total revenue per patient and divide by time spent in the system for each patient over visits. An average will be calculated across all patients
Measured: 6 months
Specialist referral prompt proportion
Using pharmacist chart review, the investigators will assess the proportion of severe asthma patients, as identified by medications currently prescribed and filled, and who are not already seeing a specialist, for whom a prompt for specialist referral was sent to the prescriber
Measured: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted26 Jun 2025
- Study start23 Jun 2025
- Primary completion23 Dec 2025 (estimated)
- Study completion15 Jan 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for PharmacyStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Sequential
- Model description
- Interrupted time series analysis
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 100 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Unity Health Toronto
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Samir Gupta, Unity Health Toronto
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07038642
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 46441
- Acronym
- eAMS-Pharm
- Status last verified
- Aug 2025
- First submitted
- 5 Jun 2025
- Last updated
- 17 Aug 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 17 Aug 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- The Electronic Asthma Management System in Pharmacies (eAMS-Pharm)
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07038642
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- eAMS-Pharm / 46441
- Keywords
- Asthma, Pharmacy, Asthma management, Computerized decision support system
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Enrolling by invitation
- Enrolment
- 100 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Unity Health TorontoUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 23 Jun 2025 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 23 Dec 2025 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 15 Jan 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 26 Jun 2025 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The goal of this study is to assess the effect of an electronic asthma management system in pharmacies (eAMS-Pharm) on asthma control assessment, asthma medication adjustment, asthma action plan delivery, and prompting for specialist referral in severe asthma. The study assesses the differences on pharmacy processes (affecting both the pharmacy team and patients) and pharmacy-delivered care using an interrupted time-series analysis (six-months before vs. six-months after the introduction of eAMS-Pharm in study pharmacy sites).
The eAMS-Pharm uses patient data (asthma control, asthma flare-up risk, and current medications) to provide clinical decision support to pharmacists, empowering them to bridge existing gaps between guideline-recommended asthma care and patient care received.
Detailed description
Asthma is the third most common chronic disease in adults and is increasing in prevalence. Although effective therapies exist and well-controlled asthma is achievable in most patients, studies demonstrate that up to 90% of Canadians with asthma are poorly controlled. This poor control and associated health system burden are attributable to 4 major gaps in care: 1) failure to ascertain asthma control according to guideline criteria; 2) failure to escalate pharmacotherapy in response to suboptimal control; 3) failure to provide a written asthma action plan (AAP) (a personalized plan produced by a health care professional for a patient, providing education and guidance for self-management of flares); and 4) failure to refer patients with severe asthma to specialty care for biologic therapies (these were 4 of the 6 quality statements in Health Quality Ontario's Asthma Quality Standards).
The Electronic Asthma Management System (eAMS) is a validated tool that has the potential to address the 4 major gaps in care. The eAMS consists of a web-based portal-based e-questionnaire, which collects asthma parameters directly from patients. A point-of-care Computerized Decision Support System (CDSS) receives and processes questionnaire data to produce guideline-based decision support such as assessments of asthma control, relevant medication change recommendations, and a personalized asthma action plan (AAP). There are also web-based education resources in the patient portal. The eAMS was proven to improve asthma management in primary care across these care gaps and is used in 16 primary care clinics, with ~215 providers and ~7200 patients with asthma. Now, with the increasingly critical role that pharmacists are playing in Canada's healthcare ecosystem, the eAMS can also be used to empower pharmacists to help optimize chronic disease care.
Pharmacists' scope of practice is growing rapidly in Ontario and across Canada. At the same time, asthma control remains suboptimal for millions of Canadians. Furthermore, the eAMS has been extensively studied and validated as an optimal tool to improve asthma management in primary care. The use of the eAMS in pharmacies presents a unique opportunity to involve pharmacists in chronic disease care while also reducing the burden on primary care. To address limited primary care access and given rapid the expansion of pharmacists' role of in care delivery, the investigators adapted the platform to build the eAMS-Pharm - a chronic disease quality improvement tool for pharmacists. The results of this study will inform the broader implementation of the eAMS across pharmacies and similar knowledge translation tools in pharmacies in the future.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Sequential
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Interrupted time series analysis
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Control - None | No intervention | –A retrospective, pharmacy chart review will assess pharmacy-delivered care in the six-month pre-intervention period. |
| Intervention - The Electronic Asthma Management System in Pharmacies (eAMS-Pharm) | Active comparator | Behavioral: Pharmacy Clinical Decision Support System for Asthma ManagementThroughout the intervention period, the eAMS-Pharm will be provided to pharmacists/RPhTs/assistants/students (for use in eligible patients). |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 16 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Pharmacy Clinical Decision Support System for Asthma ManagementA pharmacy clinical decision support system that generates individualized advice for asthma patients is provided to the pharmacist/RPht/assistant/student. | Behavioural | Intervention - The Electronic Asthma Management System in Pharmacies (eAMS-Pharm) |
Primary outcome
Medication adjustments
Time frame: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Using pharmacist chart review, the investigators will assess the proportion and trend in patients receiving medication adjustments
Asthma control assessment
Time frame: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Using pharmacist chart review, the investigators will assess the proportion and trend of patients receiving asthma control assessment by guideline criteria
Asthma action plan creation
Time frame: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Using pharmacist chart review, the investigators will assess the proportion and trend of asthma action plans being created for patients
15 secondary outcomes
System usage: virtual and in-person visit frequency
Time frame: 6 months
System usage: content access frequency
Time frame: 6 months
System usage: patient engagement frequency, by method
Time frame: 6 months
System usage: time required for access and documentation
Time frame: 6 months
Quantitative patient Likert-Scale questionnaire
Time frame: 6 months
Qualitative patient free-text feedback questionnaire
Time frame: 6 months
Pharmacy team feedback: 10-item System Usability Scale - SUS
Time frame: 6 months
Quantitative pharmacy Likert-Scale questionnaire
Time frame: 6 months
Qualitative pharmacy free-text feedback questionnaire
Time frame: 6 months
Prescription/action plan sign-back proportions
Time frame: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Revenue metrics: pharmaceutical opinion proportion
Time frame: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Revenue metrics: MedsCheck proportion
Time frame: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Revenue metrics: total dollar revenue per patient
Time frame: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Revenue metrics: dollar reimbursement for time spent in system
Time frame: 6 months
Specialist referral prompt proportion
Time frame: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 17 Aug 2025.
- eAMS-Pharm web pageLink provided by the sponsor.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
3 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Pharmacy Clinical Decision Support System for Asthma Management in people with Pharmacy and Asthma Management, run by Unity Health Toronto at 3 sites in Canada.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: enrolling by invitation, as of the sponsor's last update on 17 Aug 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 3 sites in Canada. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Medication adjustments (time frame: 12 months, broken into individual time series periods). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 17 Aug 2025.