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T M Collins

Publications and source records attributed to T M Collins.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of targeting a DUR letter intervention at pharmacists separate from and in addition to physicians.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact on dipyridamole prescribing of a letter mailed to pharmacists and/or physicians. DESIGN: Interrupted time series with control series. SETTING: State of Wisconsin. PARTICIPANTS: Physicians and pharmacists caring for patients who were prescribed dipyridamole. INTERVENTIONS: The state of Wisconsin was divided into four sections, three of which were designated as experimental regions (letter to physician only, letter to pharmacist only, and letter to both physician and pharmacist) and one of which served as a control region. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cost of drug per patient per month in ambulatory and long-term care populations. RESULTS: For 763 long-term care and 586 ambulatory Medicaid patients, letters sent to both physicians and pharmacists resulted in significant reductions in dipyridamole expenditures relative to the control group. For long-term care patients, interventions directed at both physicians and pharmacists produced significant reductions in dipyridamole prescribing relative to interventions directed at physicians alone or pharmacists alone. CONCLUSION: Future DUR letter interventions designed to change prescribing habits would be more effective if they targeted both physicians and pharmacists, particularly in the long-term care setting.

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mtDNA ribosomal gene phylogeny of sea hares in the genus Aplysia (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia, Anaspidea): implications for comparative neurobiology.

Sea hares within the genus Aplysia are important neurobiological model organisms; as more studies based on different Aplysia species are appearing in the literature, a phylogenetic framework has become essential. We present a phylogenetic hypothesis for this genus, based on portions of two mitochondrial genes (12S and 16S). In addition, we reconstruct the evolution of several behavioral characters of interest to neurobiologists to illustrate the potential benefits of a phylogeny for the genus Aplysia. These benefits include determination of ancestral traits, direction and timing of evolution of characters, prediction of the distribution of traits, and identification of cases of independent acquisition of traits within lineages. This last benefit may prove especially useful in understanding the linkage between behaviors and their underlying neurological bases.

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