Dataset Information

Improving medication management for patients: the effect of a pharmacist on post-admission ward rounds.

ABSTRACT:

Problem

Medication management in the NHS has been highlighted by the UK Department of Health as an area for improvement. Pharmacist participation on post-take (post-admission) ward rounds was shown to reduce medication errors and reduced prescribing costs in the USA and in UK teaching hospitals, which can contribute to improved medication management. We sought to demonstrate the problem in our hospital by collecting data on prescribing practice from three consecutive general medical post-take ward rounds.

Setting

Northwick Park Hospital, a district general hospital in north-west London, which provides acute medical services to a population of 300,000.

Strategy for change

A pharmacist was invited to become a member of the post-take ward round team that reviewed medical patients admitted within the preceding 24 hours. Patients also continued to receive care from a ward based pharmacist. Patient notes were analysed for cost of drugs on admission and discharge, discrepancies between admission drug history and pharmacist history, number of admission drugs stopped before discharge, and pharmacist recommendations. Pharmacist recommendations and actions were classified using a National Patient Safety Agency risk matrix.

Effects of change

Discrepancies between the admission and the pharmacist derived drug history were noted in 26 of 50 in the pre-intervention group and 52 of 53 in the intervention group. The annual drug cost per patient following discharge increased by pounds 181 in the pre-intervention group and by pounds 122 in the intervention group. Five pre-admission drugs were stopped in three pre-intervention patients saving pounds 276 per annum, while the 42 drugs stopped in 19 intervention patients saved pounds 4699 per annum. No ward based pharmacist recommendations were recorded in the pre-intervention group. Recommendations regarding drug choice, dose, and need for drug treatment were most common; 58 minor, 48 moderate and four major risks to patients were potentially avoided.

Lessons learnt

The presence of a pharmacist on a post-take ward round improved the accuracy of drug history documentation, reduced prescribing costs, and decreased the potential risk to patients in our hospital. As a result of this work a full time pharmacist has now been funded to attend daily post-take ward rounds on a permanent basis.

SUBMITTER: Fertleman M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1744029 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Improving medication management for patients: the effect of a pharmacist on post-admission ward rounds.

Fertleman M M Barnett N N Patel T T

Quality & safety in health care 20050601 3

<h4>Problem</h4>Medication management in the NHS has been highlighted by the UK Department of Health as an area for improvement. Pharmacist participation on post-take (post-admission) ward rounds was shown to reduce medication errors and reduced prescribing costs in the USA and in UK teaching hospitals, which can contribute to improved medication management. We sought to demonstrate the problem in our hospital by collecting data on prescribing practice from three consecutive general medical post ...[more]

PMID: 15933319

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Project description:Cardiology wards are generally high turnover units, which may receive primary PCI, high-risk NSTEMI patients, and other general cardiac admissions from a large geographical area. Many centres also provide national specialist services for rarer cardiac conditions for which admissions may be lengthy. Cardiac patients have significant risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) as immobility may be due to systolic dysfunction, attachment to continuous monitoring and predisposition to chest pain, or cardiac syncope. It is recommended by NICE that an initial VTE risk assessment is undertaken at the time of patient admission, with reassessment within 24 hours. For this purpose a risk assessment tool is featured on the front of many Trust drug charts. It is noted that this risk assessment is electronic in other trusts. We undertook an audit into the drug chart documentation of VTE risk assessment on the cardiology ward and the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) at The Royal Free Hospital. It was evident that documentation of VTE risk assessment was poor. The audit interventions were; a teaching presentation to the cardiology department, an educational poster, several update emails to the department and the identification of a 'VTE risk assessment champion' to audit ongoing compliance. Following these measures the second audit round demonstrated that documentation of initial risk assessment was slightly improved, but significant improvement was seen in documentation of risk assessment at 24 hours post admission. Results from a third audit cycle indicated that the improvement in initial VTE risk assessment was sustained, and that there was a significant sustained improvement in risk assessment at 24 hours (p <0.05). Recommendations for sustained improvement included: redesigning the drug chart so that the VTE risk assessment tool was linked to the VTE prophylaxis prescription box, and designating the responsibility of the initial VTE risk assessment to the on call junior doctor who receives admissions on to the ward.

Project description:BackgroundMedication therapy management (MTM) is a service, most commonly provided by pharmacists, intended to identify and resolve medication therapy problems (MTPs) to enhance patient care. MTM is typically documented by the community pharmacist in an MTM vendor's web-based platform. These platforms often include integrated alerts to assist the pharmacist with assessing MTPs. In order to maximize the usability and usefulness of alerts to the end users (e.g., community pharmacists), MTM alert design should follow principles from human factors science. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to 1) evaluate the extent to which alerts for community pharmacist-delivered MTM align with established human factors principles, and 2) identify areas of opportunity and recommendations to improve MTM alert design.MethodsFive categories of MTM alerts submitted by community pharmacists were evaluated: 1) indication, 2) effectiveness; 3) safety; 4) adherence; and 5) cost-containment. This heuristic evaluation was guided by the Instrument for Evaluating Human-Factors Principles in Medication-Related Decision Support Alerts (I-MeDeSA) which we adapted and contained 32 heuristics. For each MTM alert, four analysts' individual ratings were summed and a mean score on the modified I-MeDeSA computed. For each heuristic, we also computed the percent of analyst ratings indicating alignment with the heuristic. We did this for all alerts evaluated to produce an "overall" summary of analysts' ratings for a given heuristic, and we also computed this separately for each alert category. Our results focus on heuristics where ?50% of analysts' ratings indicated the alerts aligned with the heuristic.ResultsI-MeDeSA scores across the five alert categories were similar. Heuristics pertaining to visibility and color were generally met. Opportunities for improvement across all MTM alert categories pertained to the principles of alert prioritization; text-based information; alarm philosophy; and corrective actions.ConclusionsMTM alerts have several opportunities for improvement related to human factors principles, resulting in MTM alert design recommendations. Enhancements to MTM alert design may increase the effectiveness of MTM delivery by community pharmacists and result in improved patient outcomes.

Project description:ObjectiveMedication reconciliation (MedRec) is a relevant safety procedure in medication management at transitions of care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of MedRec, including a best possible medication history (BPMH) compared with a standard medication history in patients admitted to an internal medicine ward.DesignProspective interventional study. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics followed by univariate and multivariate Poisson regression models and a zero-inflated Poisson regression model.SettingInternal medicine ward in a secondary care hospital in Southern Switzerland.ParticipantsThe first 100 consecutive patients admitted in an internal medicine ward.Primary and secondary outcome measuresMedication discrepancies between the medication list obtained by the physician and that obtained by a pharmacist according to a systematic approach (BPMH) were collected, quantified and assessed by an expert panel that assigned a severity score. The same procedure was applied to discrepancies regarding allergies. Predicting factors for medication discrepancies were identified.ResultsThe median of medications per patient was 8 after standard medication history and 11 after BPMH. Total admission discrepancies were 524 (5.24 discrepancies per patient) with at least 1 discrepancy per patient. For 47 patients, at least one discrepancy was classified as clinically relevant. Discrepancies were classified as significant and serious in 19% and 2% of cases, respectively. Furthermore, 67% of the discrepancies were detected during the interview conducted by the pharmacist with the patients and/or their caregivers. The number of drugs used and the autonomous management of home therapy were associated with an increased number of clinically relevant discrepancies in a multivariable Poisson regression model.ConclusionEven in an advanced healthcare system, a standardised MedRec process including a BPMH represents an important strategy that may contribute to avoid a notable number of clinically relevant discrepancies and potential adverse drug events.

Dataset Information

Improving medication management for patients: the effect of a pharmacist on post-admission ward rounds.

Problem

Setting

Strategy for change

Effects of change

Lessons learnt

Publications

Improving medication management for patients: the effect of a pharmacist on post-admission ward rounds.

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