Visualizing Patterns of Drug Prescriptions with EventFlow: A Pilot Study of Asthma Medications in the Military Health System

The Food and Drug Administration and Department of Defense were interested in detecting sub-optimal use of long-acting beta-agonists (LABAs) in asthmatics within the Military Health System (MHS). Visualizing the patterns of asthma medication use surrounding a LABA prescription is a quick way to detect possible sub-optimal use for further evaluation. Analysis of 100 asthma patients was conducted in EventFlow to display and summarize timepoint and interval data. Epidemiologists reported that EventFlow was a powerful tool for rapidly visualizing possible patterns of sub-optimal LABA use that can be targeted for intervention.