Improving pharmacists' targeting of patients for medication review and deprescription
Author(s)
Marvin, Vanessa
Ward, Emily
Jubraj, Barry
Bower, Mark
Bovill, IƱaki
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: In an acute hospital setting, a multi-disciplinary approach to medication review can improve prescribing and medicine selection in patients with frailty. There is a need for a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists to ensure that interventions have the greatest impact on patient care. Aim: To use a consensus building process to produce guidance for pharmacists to support the identification of patients at risk from their medicines, and to articulate expected actions and escalation processes. Methods: A literature search was conducted and evidence used to establish a set of ten scenarios often encountered in hospitalised patients, with six or more possible actions. Four consultant physicians and four senior pharmacists ranked their levels of agreement with the listed actions. The process was redrafted and repeated until consensus was reached and interventions were defined. Outcome: Generalised guidance for reviewing older adults' medicines was developed, alongside escalation processes that should be followed in a specific set of clinical situations. The panel agreed that both pharmacists and physicians have an active role to play in medication review, and face-to-face communication is always preferable to facilitate informed decision making. Only prescribers should deprescribe, however pharmacists who are not also trained as prescribers may temporarily "hold" medications in the best interests of the patient with appropriate documentation and a follow up discussion with the prescribing team. The consensus was that a combination of age, problematic polypharmacy, and the presence of medication-related problems, were the most important factors in the identification of patients who would benefit most from a comprehensive medication review. Conclusions: Guidance on the identification of patients on inappropriate medicines, and subsequent pharmacist-led intervention to prompt and promote deprescribing, has been developed for implementation in an acute hospital.
Date Issued
2018-04-16
Date Acceptance
2018-04-11
Citation
Pharmacy, 2018, 6 (2)
ISSN
2226-4787
Publisher
MDPI AG
Journal / Book Title
Pharmacy
Volume
6
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
Ā© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29659552
PII: pharmacy6020032
Subjects
deprescribing
frailty
hospitalisation
medication review
older adults
pharmaceutical care
polypharmacy
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Switzerland
Article Number
ARTN 32