Medication Review Report

The rate of diabetes in the United States is one of the highest compared to other developed countries. An estimate of 9.3% of the population have diabetes, of those with diabetes 27.8% have yet to be diagnosed (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014). This means that approximately 8.1 million people are currently living with diabetes, but are unaware of it. As of 2012, 12.3% of people with diabetes were 20 years old or older, the largest population diagnosed with diabetes were adults 65 years old or older. 25.9% of this population lives with diabetes (CDC, 2014). On a national level, the CDC have launched initiatives that focus on prevention and disease management. The National Diabetes Prevention Program is an example of one such initiative. This program focuses on lifestyle changes,

This essay will inform readers about the best practices, published guidelines, and clinical pathways for management of diabetes. Diabetes is a serious issue that affects millions of people. Unrecognized pre diabetes is also a growing concern that is increasing dramatically. Diabetes is not diagnosed for most homeless people, because they do not do have a yearly physical check-up. Published guidelines are useful to patients and practitioners because they focus on the improvement of care. Clinical pathways are also important, because they focus on the outcome and assessment of their achievement.

Pharmacist have a unique opportunity to spearhead improvements in overall quality of care and to create a better coordinated healthcare system. These healthcare practitioners play a role in managing and modifying medication therapies, typically, in some form of collaboration with the prescribing physician (Guglielmo, 2012). Pharmacist can be a part of medical home teams and can help improve the health of high-risk patients and patients with chronic conditions in primary settings. Pharmacist can serve as medication-use system experts, meet pay-for performance measures, and prevent hospital readmissions (Carrion & Martin, 2015).

drugs can be potentially dangerous for a patient, particularly if they are receiving medications from different clinicians who are not communicating with each

The increase in patients falls and the number of patients that are fall risks has greatly increase. Part of this is due to the aging population. While there are many prevention methods in place, patients are continuing to experience falls. “Problem solving relies on decision-making, critical thinking, and/or clinical judgement” (Chamberlain College of Nursing, 2015). I recently had a patient that had two falls during his admission. I placed the patient on 1:1 observation. He was a fall risk due to his history, mental status, and medications (narcotic pain meds and antipsychotics). The patient did not fall again while I was at work. However, after my days off I came back and got report that the patient fell again. The patient had been taken

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

3) advocates autonomy and independence of the residents. According to the guideline states that medication review is an evidence-based intervention and this review should be performed regularly (ACSQHC 2009, p. 72). A meta-analysis was conducted in aged care facilities and the relationship polypharmacy and falls, and fall injuries were found out. Residents taking cardiovascular medications, including diuretics, antiarrhythmics, digoxin, have higher fall risks. But, by reviewing their medication, the risks of fall were reduced up to 66% (Baranzini et al. 2009, p. 228). A randomise controlled trial was conducted targeting residents in aged care facilities, and a comparison between medication-reviewed population and non-reviewed population performed. The effectiveness of medication review was statistically confirmed that reviewed population showed 38% lower number of falls than the non-reviewed population (Zermansky et al. 2006, p. 589). Therefore, in aged care facilities, falls are obviously a big problem and often harm the residents. Medication is a major factor for falls because the vast majority of residents are taking multiple medications. However, reviewing their medications, fall risks are significantly reduced. As a nurse, careful observation for the residents and frequent collaboration with pharmacists or doctors should be performed to ensure the residents

Nearly half of seniors do not take their medications when or how they were prescribed. There are mistakes on dosages, methods of delivery, time of delivery, what they should be taken with, and even if they should still be taken. Compounding the issue, most seniors over the age of 65 are taking between 8 and 13 different medications. Put these numbers together and it is no wonder that problems with medication management are one of the leading reasons seniors end up in the emergency room, and is the number one reason seniors end up back in the hospital after being recently discharged. According to a study published in "Pharmacotherapy", nearly 70 percent of hospitalized seniors suffered from at least one

Falls are the second most common adverse event within health care institutions following medication errors, and an estimated 30% of hospital-based falls result in serious injury. The severity of this problem led the Joint Commission to make reducing the risk of patient injuries from falls a national patient safety goal for hospitals in 2009 (AHRQ, 2006). Falls are a leading cause of hospital-acquired injury and frequently prolong and complicate hospital stays and result in poor quality of life, increased costs, and unanticipated admissions to long-term care facilities.

The sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement,6CPA (2015 – 2020) takes effect from I July 2015. In 6CPA, an increase in the total funding has been allocated to community pharmacy. One of the continuing community pharmacy programs from 5CPA is the medication management programs which support quality use of medication (QUM) services to reduce adverse medicine events and associated hospital admissions or medical presentations. Three individual programs under this program sections are home medicines review(HMR), residential medication management review (RMMR) and QUM and Medscheck and Diabetes Medscheck. The medication management programs aim to identify, prevent and resolve actual and potential problems related to drugs, optimise pharmacotherapy and

Tissot E, Cornette C, Limat S, et al. Observational study of potential risk factors of medication

Prescription medication use is widespread, complex, and increasingly risky. Clinicians have access to an armamentarium of more than 10,000 prescription medications, and nearly one-third of adults in the United States take 5 or more medications. Advances in clinical therapeutics have undoubtedly resulted in major improvements in health for patients with many diseases, but these benefits have also been accompanied by increased risks. An adverse drug event (ADE) is defined as harm experienced by a patient as a result of exposure to a medication, and ADEs account for nearly 700,000 emergency department visits and 100,000 hospitalizations each year. ADEs affect nearly 5% of hospitalized patients, making them one of the most common types of inpatient errors; ambulatory patients may experience ADEs at even higher rates. Transitions in care are also a well-documented source of preventable harm

In the article “The Political Economy of FDA Drug Review: Processing, Politics and Lessons for Policy”, the author Daniel P.Carpenter discusses different aspects of the FDA’s drug processing system and the political effects that can alter the routes and outcomes of that process. The role of the FDA is often thought to be mainly focused on protecting the public from non-efficient drugs and that that is the reason behind its popularity. However, the article points out how this role is actually more focused on protecting the FDA’s own reputation; as a long-time FDA observer said, “The FDA is very responsive to what I would call ‘opinion leaders’ in the scientific and medical communities. It cares very much about what these people think as to how the agency is doing”. It is rather surprising and makes complete sense at the same time. I believe because the public often saw the FDA as a heroic agency that shielded them from harmful drugs with no concern of the outcomes. But this vision would certainly vanish if the

Diabetes is associated with wide range of complications such as chronic renal failure, blindness, amputations, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and neuropathy (Alotabi, A., et al., 2016). There is no known cure for diabetes, but the disease can be controlled through health management that includes multiple perspectives of care such as medications, blood glucose monitoring, diet, nutrition, screening for long-term complications and regular physical activity (Alotabi, A., et al., 2016). Managing diabetes may be complicated and requires the knowledge and skills of both healthcare providers and the clients. Studies have shown that to prevent or delay diabetic complications due to diabetes, counseling and other lifestyle interventions are the effective therapy. Even with many policies set up for diabetes, 8.1 million Americans are undiagnosed with diabetes mellitus, and approximately 86 million Americans ages 20 and older have blood glucose levels that considerably increase their risk of developing Diabetes Mellitus in the next several years (CDC, 2015). For diabetes care to be successful there needs to be a good understanding of the disease and management by both patients and healthcare providers,

Several nationwide programs and incentives were administered in the last couple of decades to promote awareness of diabetes and hopefully help prevent millions of Americans from developing diabetes. Health Agencies, such as World Health Organization (WHO) and Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have developed objectives to tackle diabetes. Some of these objectives include conducting surveillance and obtaining diabetes data to identify trends in the population, spreading awareness about the condition, and developing programs that will enhance diabetes care and ensure the longevity of the patients. Various programs have been developed but while some excel, others fail to benefit the lives of the patient.