Extended Pharmacist Assessment of Medication Safety for Nursing Home Residents—A Cross-Sectional and Prospective Study

In the routine pharmacist’s medication review in ambulatory care and nursing homes in Germany, clinical diagnoses are often insufficiently considered as they are frequently not accessible to pharmacists and their electronic support tools. This may leave a significant proportion of medication-related...

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Main Authors: Christian Führling, Renke Maas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-11-01
Series:Journal of Clinical Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/11/21/6602
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author Christian Führling
Renke Maas
author_facet Christian Führling
Renke Maas
author_sort Christian Führling
collection DOAJ
description In the routine pharmacist’s medication review in ambulatory care and nursing homes in Germany, clinical diagnoses are often insufficiently considered as they are frequently not accessible to pharmacists and their electronic support tools. This may leave a significant proportion of medication-related problems (MRP) undetected and unresolved. Moreover, limited and incomplete data may promote spurious alerts of low clinical relevance. In order to assess the impact of improved data availability, we conducted a study (German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00025346) to evaluate the impact of an extended pharmacist’s medication review, made possible by diagnosis data being routinely available to the pharmacist. At six nursing homes in the Nuremberg metropolitan area, 338 patients treated by 32 physicians were enrolled. A pharmacist’s medication review, considering only the medication data, identified 114 potential MRPs, and additional consideration of diagnoses further identified 69 potential MRPs. The physicians adapted the therapy in response to 69.9% of alerts. The observed gain in MRP identified indicates that efforts should be intensified to facilitate and improve consideration of drug–diagnosis-related MRP by improving data sharing and communication between pharmacists and physicians caring for nursing home residents.
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spelling doaj.art-a07c4b872f904fe09f265aa43f22003b2023-11-24T05:20:21ZengMDPI AGJournal of Clinical Medicine2077-03832022-11-011121660210.3390/jcm11216602Extended Pharmacist Assessment of Medication Safety for Nursing Home Residents—A Cross-Sectional and Prospective StudyChristian Führling0Renke Maas1Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, GermanyInstitute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, GermanyIn the routine pharmacist’s medication review in ambulatory care and nursing homes in Germany, clinical diagnoses are often insufficiently considered as they are frequently not accessible to pharmacists and their electronic support tools. This may leave a significant proportion of medication-related problems (MRP) undetected and unresolved. Moreover, limited and incomplete data may promote spurious alerts of low clinical relevance. In order to assess the impact of improved data availability, we conducted a study (German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00025346) to evaluate the impact of an extended pharmacist’s medication review, made possible by diagnosis data being routinely available to the pharmacist. At six nursing homes in the Nuremberg metropolitan area, 338 patients treated by 32 physicians were enrolled. A pharmacist’s medication review, considering only the medication data, identified 114 potential MRPs, and additional consideration of diagnoses further identified 69 potential MRPs. The physicians adapted the therapy in response to 69.9% of alerts. The observed gain in MRP identified indicates that efforts should be intensified to facilitate and improve consideration of drug–diagnosis-related MRP by improving data sharing and communication between pharmacists and physicians caring for nursing home residents.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/11/21/6602medication safetynursing home residentsmedication reviewmedication related problemmedication error
spellingShingle Christian Führling
Renke Maas
Extended Pharmacist Assessment of Medication Safety for Nursing Home Residents—A Cross-Sectional and Prospective Study
Journal of Clinical Medicine
medication safety
nursing home residents
medication review
medication related problem
medication error
title Extended Pharmacist Assessment of Medication Safety for Nursing Home Residents—A Cross-Sectional and Prospective Study
title_full Extended Pharmacist Assessment of Medication Safety for Nursing Home Residents—A Cross-Sectional and Prospective Study
title_fullStr Extended Pharmacist Assessment of Medication Safety for Nursing Home Residents—A Cross-Sectional and Prospective Study
title_full_unstemmed Extended Pharmacist Assessment of Medication Safety for Nursing Home Residents—A Cross-Sectional and Prospective Study
title_short Extended Pharmacist Assessment of Medication Safety for Nursing Home Residents—A Cross-Sectional and Prospective Study
title_sort extended pharmacist assessment of medication safety for nursing home residents a cross sectional and prospective study
topic medication safety
nursing home residents
medication review
medication related problem
medication error
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/11/21/6602
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