Prescribing information resources: Use and preference by New Zealand general practitioners

Aims To identify sources New Zealand (NZ) general practitioners (GPs) use to inform themselves about prescribing issues; how they keep their information up-to-date, and factors influencing prescribing decisions. Methods Computer-assisted telephone interviews of 99 randomly-selected NZ GPs in 2004. Results Seventy-two per cent response rate. MIMS/New Ethicals was the most commonly used resource but is reported to be limited in the information it provides. There was no single source of prescribing information identified by this group of NZ GPs. Despite frequent use of computers in general practice, use of prescribing websites was low. Barriers to Internet use for prescribing were lack of: time; awareness; fast access; and computer literacy. Rapidly-accessed resources are reported to be more likely to be used in clinical decision-making than higher quality but slower access ones. Costs to patients and direct-toconsumer advertising were identified as influences on prescribing.