Medication Management Research Paper

When doctors prescribe medication for their patients, a local retail pharmacy is most likely to be utilized to fill the order. However, there is a growing population of older Americans that are no longer able to live independently and must reside in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. In order for this vulnerable population to receive their medications, a different kind of pharmacy is needed, these are known as LTC, long term care pharmacies. Within these specialized pharmacies there are highly trained employees called CPhTs, certified pharmacy technicians who are overseen by state licensed

Polypharmacy, described as an individual taking more than four medications, can be concerning with the aging population. Polypharmacy concerns include adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, higher cost, decreased mobility, decreased quality of life and cognition impairment. Those at greater risk of negative polypharmacy consequences include elderly, psychiatric patients, recently hospitalized, individuals with multiple doctors or pharmacies and people with impaired vision or dexterity. There are times that polypharmacy is at times needed to help a person with their diagnosis, an example of this is using multiple medications to treat congestive heart failure which can include digoxin, diuretics, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors

Senior citizens are the people who are most likely to take multiple medications due to the occurring chronic conditions as the aging process continues. Given the several medicines they take, they are ironically the age group that is very much sensitive to medication side effects, both therapeutic and negative.

Inappropriate prescribing commonly occurs in adults aged 65 or older, who have a higher prevalence of chronic disease, disability, and dependency (Page II, Linnebur, Bryant, & Ruscin, 2010). Exposure to inappropriate medications is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and health care utilization (Page II, Linnebur, Bryant, & Ruscin, 2010). Below is a list of measures that concentrate on the prescribing of correct medications in the hospital

How much knowledge do we have about the medications that we are prescribed from our physician? We don’t always as patients get to much knowledge about the medications from our doctor and we rarely ask the pharmacist about any concerns, and how many of us really have taken the time to read the description of the medications that is stapled onto the medication bag. I must confess I am not very good about that myself.

As well as using multiple physicians, elderly clients may use more than one pharmacy. Each pharmacy attempting oversight of the client’s medication use may not be aware of all the medications prescribed.

Working directly in patients homes we have access to their medication cabinets, doctor orders, and medication sheets. Thorough review of their medications is the first step to identify polypharmacy. Lui, (2014) discusses the approach of deprescrbing unnecessary medications. Stopping unnecessary or harmful medication is an often overlooked yet important component of geriatric practice. This process may be time-consuming, as there are many factors to consider when deprescribing medications in elderly patients.

They continue taking drugs that may be unnecessary or unsuitable. According to Gayathri J. Dowling, Susan R. B. Weiss and Timothy P. Condon, authors of “Drug Abuse and the Aging Brain”, the dynamic nature of the brain suggests that drug abuse in older adults may have unique consequences that influence drugs’ effects in the brain. The abundant amount of medication found in the everyday lives of elderly patients is alarming and can do much more harm than good. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stated in a 2014 action plan that older adults account for 35% of all hospital stays and more than half of those visits are marred by drug-related

Are any of you are aware of the terminology of any medication taken or do you all simply take the medication because it was prescribed by a doctor? it is undeniable that drugs do save lives, but few prescription medications are completely free of risks or side effects. Naturally, the more drugs that are taken at the same time, the greater the risk of adverse interactions and potentially devastating side effects. This problem of “overmedication” is increasing to almost epidemic proportions among the elderly. For example, a recent Washington Post article that described an 83-year-old grandmother who wished to remain anonymous. The woman had been hospitalized for an asthma attack. In the hospital, she was prescribed

Polypharmacy, which is the use of multiple medications and/or the administration of more medications than are clinically indicated, which is very common in elder adults. Polypharmacy has many bad effects on the body of an elder. Taking medicine is already risky but taking more than one medicine especially different kinds can hurt the body. Taking many medicine can cause “Poor health, depression, hypertension, anemia, asthma, angina, diverticulosis, osteoarthritis, weight gain, diabetics mellitus, and use of 9 or more medications are the health risk associated with polypharmacy” (Hajjar, Cafiero, & Hanlon ,2007). These can occur because taking many medicines at the same time especially if the doctor does not direct you to do it that way, the medicine can

It can be determined that the elderly seldom get drugs illicitly. As stated earlier, they usually get drugs by seeing multiple doctors. In addition to this, they stockpile prescribed medications over time, or getting medications from family members. This only contributes to the problems of the elderly. Often times, family members are reluctant to address the issues their elderly family member face.

Medication therapy management plays a huge role in the healthcare world. In the United States we see an enormous problem dealing with the mismanagement of medications given to patients.

As the population ages, multiple comorbidities result in the use of multiple medications to treat these conditions. The more medications a geriatric patient takes, the greater the risk of nonadherence to the prescribed medication schedule (Frances, Thirumoorthy, and Kwan, 2015). Improper usage of medications results in decreased therapeutic effects and potentially can be dangerous for the patient. Taking too much of a medication can pose as life threatening, while taking too little of a

A list of PIMs was developed and published by Beers and colleagues for nursing home residents in 1991 subsequently expanded and revised in 1997, 2003 then 2012 to include all settings of geriatric care [4]. Avoiding the use of inappropriate and high-risk drugs is an important, simple, and effective strategy in reducing medication-related problems (MRP) and ADEs in older adults. However, the use of PIM is common; according to Popovic et al., 62.4% of ageing patients were received at least one medication with risk outweighs the benefit [4].

If the elderly patient is taking five or more medications there is a thirty percent increase in medical costs (Kojima, Akishita, Nakaumura, Nomura, Ogwawa, Iijima, Ouchi, 2011). The patient’s functional status has been known to decline in these circumstances such as a decline in th3e ability to complete activities of daily living. Cognitive impairment, including both delirium and dementia, have been associated with polypharmacy along with falls, urinary incontinence and possible malnourishment. This research paper will include a summary of the patient population, a proposed solution including goals, barriers, benefits, and timeline of major steps to be taken for implementation of the proposed solution, the parties that will be involved and lastly, implemented solutions.