TY - JOUR T1 - A cross-sectional survey using electronic distribution of a questionnaire to subscribers of educational material written by clinicians, for clinicians, to evaluate whether practice change resulted from reading the Clinical Communiqué JF - BMJ Open JO - BMJ Open DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014064 VL - 7 IS - 5 SP - e014064 AU - Nicola Cunningham AU - Tony Pham AU - Briohny Kennedy AU - Alexander Gillard AU - Joseph Ibrahim Y1 - 2017/05/01 UR - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/5/e014064.abstract N2 - Objective To explore whether subscribers reported clinical practice changes as a result of reading the Clinical Communiqué (CC). Secondarily, to compare the characteristics of subscribers who self-reported changes to clinical practice with those who did not, and to explore subscribers’ perceptions of the educational value of the CC.Design, setting and participants Online cross-sectional survey between 21 July 2015 and 18 August 2015 by subscribers of the CC (response rate=29.9%, 1008/3373), conducted by a team from Monash University, Australia.Main outcome measures Change in clinical practice as a result of reading the CC.Results 53.0% of respondents reported that their practice had changed after reading the CC. Respondents also found that the CC raised awareness (96.5%) and provided ideas about improving patient safety and care (94.1%) leading them to discuss cases with their colleagues (79.6%) and review their practice (75.7%). Multivariate analysis indicated that working in a residential aged care facility (p<0.05) and having taken part in an inquest (p<0.05) were significantly associated with practice change.Conclusion The design and content of the CC has generated a positive impact on the healthcare community. It is presented in a format that appears to be accessible and acceptable to readers and achieves its goals of promoting safer clinical care through greater awareness of the medico-legal context of practice. ER -