Less is more: a project to reduce the number of PIMs (potentially inappropriate medications) on an elderly care ward.
Aung TH, Judith Beck A, Siese T, Berrisford R. Less is more: a project to reduce the number of PIMs (potentially inappropriate medications) on an elderly care ward. BMJ Qual Improv Rep. 2016;5(1):u207857.w4260. Published 2016 Mar 28. doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u207857.w4260
Previous studies have found that older patients experience high rates of adverse drug events and are often prescribed inappropriate medications. This commentary discusses a quality improvement project aimed at reducing avoidable adverse drug events that used prescribing criteria, a checklist, and plan-do-study-act methods to help identify potentially inappropriate medications prescribed in a unit, educate and raise awareness about the medications among health care workers, and remove the medications from the ward.