The impact of automatic prescriptions on reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.

Context: Compliance with the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) guidelines for secondary prevention of atherosclerotic disease has been poor.

Objective: To determine whether an automatic prescription would improve compliance with NCEP guidelines on low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol for secondary prevention of atherosclerotic disease.

Design: Observational study in which physicians chose whether to use an automatic prescription system.