Academic Detailing

Academic detailing is a form of educational outreach, typically used in the healthcare field, where trained professionals visit physicians, pharmacists, or other healthcare providers to provide evidence-based information and guidance on specific medical practices or treatments.

The guidance is tailored to consider and address specific concerns of the healthcare provider and the environmental and contextual factors that may act as barriers in initiating behavior change in practice among health care providers.

This concept is modeled after the pharmaceutical industry’s “detailing” techniques, where pharmaceutical representatives visit doctors to explain the benefits of their drugs.

However, academic detailing is educational and unbiased, aimed at improving patient care through the dissemination of non-commercial, evidence-based healthcare information.

This approach provides an effective and convenient way for providers to remain up to date on the latest research findings with the goal of improving patient care.

• Improving Treatment Quality: By providing up-to-date, evidence-based recommendations tailored to the specific needs of a practice, academic detailing helps clinicians improve the quality of care they provide.
• Promoting Best Practices: It promotes the use of best practices in complex or rapidly changing areas of care, such as the management of chronic diseases or the appropriate use of medications.
• Addressing Specific Healthcare Needs: Detailers often focus on areas where there is a recognized gap between current practice and standard care guidelines, such as the treatment of substance use disorders or the optimal management of chronic pain.
• Facilitating Behavioral Change: By providing personalized education and follow-up, academic detailers can effectively encourage behavior change among healthcare providers.

Visits between an academic detailer and healthcare provider are typically short and focused, designed to fit within the healthcare provider’s schedule, and aim to foster a two-way exchange of information where the clinician’s experiences and needs are also heard.

Any healthcare provider looking to gain new treatment competence. For example, should a healthcare provider identify a need for substance use treatment or care within their patient population, and wishes to expand their practice to include treating individuals with opioid and stimulant use disorders, they may schedule an academic detailing session.

This session equips the provider with tools and support necessary for expanding their practice accordingly.

This is not one way communication- one of the benefits of academic detailing is that the model includes gathering insights from the healthcare provider regarding specific challenges and barriers to providing treatment for opioid and stimulant use disorders. The academic detailer aims to support the healthcare provider’s practice and enhance the health of their patient community.

The trained Academic Detailer schedules and meets with the healthcare provider for a brief (10-30 minute session) discussing a particular topic of interest. The academic detailing sessions are typically one-on-one, and can be held virtually in in-person. Visits can be arranged before, during, or after the healthcare provider’s regular office hours for added convenience.