An evaluation of medication review reports across different settings

Abstract

The primary drug related problem reported in the practice pharmacist phase was Additional therapy required as compared to Precautions in the external pharmacist phase. The practice pharmacist most frequently recommended to add drug with Additional monitoring recommended most often in the external pharmacists. During the practice pharmacist phase 71 % of recommendations were implemented and was significantly higher than the external pharmacist phase with 53 % of recommendations implemented (p < 0.0001). Two of the 23 drug related problem domains differed significantly when comparing medication reviews conducted in the patient's home to those conducted in the medical centre.

The practice pharmacist: a natural fit in the general practice team

“…22 One of the key elements described in the literature is that, in addition to becoming integrated into the general practice team, the pharmacist's access extended to the patient's electronic health record. [11][12][13][14][15][16][18][19][20][21] This allows the practice pharmacist to view the patient's past medical history, pathology, specialist correspondence and previous medicines, which are all crucial when providing pharmaceutical care. It also facilitates better care coordination and collaboration between the practice pharmacist, GP and other members of the integrated team.…”

Advocating for Patients and the Pharmacist's Role in Primary Care

“…Australian studies have demonstrated that HMRs can resolve, manage or reduce medicine-related problems for a wide range of patients. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] In addition, HMRs improve health outcomes; for example, in patients receiving betablockers for heart failure, an HMR resulted in a 45% reduction in likelihood of hospitalisation for heart failure at any time. 18 Another study found that an HMR in patients taking warfarin resulted in a 79% reduced likelihood of bleeding-associated hospitalisation 2-6 months after…”

“…18 Further, this work shows that access to the patient's medical file facilitates a more targeted and less theoretical medication review. 19 Many barriers to the integration of pharmacists into healthcare teams have been identified. 12,13,20,21 These include practitioner perceptions, issues around patient confidentiality and limited funding and infrastructure.…”

Chronicles of a primary care practice pharmacist

“…Examples of drug related problems included the requirement of additional therapy, the presence of an adverse drug reaction, and identification of suboptimal therapy. 14 The overall aim was to achieve the safe, effective, and appropriate use of medications through detecting and addressing medication related problems that may interfere with desired health outcomes. Once the medication review was completed by the practice pharmacist, a report was uploaded directly into the medical software with an alert sent electronically to the GP.…”