Careful medication management in long-term care residents is associated with improved hospital readmission rates and reduced fall rates. In the UK, pharmacist independent prescribers (PIP) can initiate, change, or monitor medications, and this cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated the effect of PIPs on fall rates. After six months of PIP involvement, fall rates (the primary outcome) were not statistically different than the usual care group, although drug burden was reduced.

Interprofessional communication is critical to safe medication management during transitions of care. Researchers conducted this ethnographic study to explore inter- and intra-professional communications during older adults’ transitions of care. Communication was influenced by the transferring setting, receiving setting, and ‘real-time’ communication. Lack of, or poor, communication impacted medication safety; researchers recommend more proactive communication and involvement of the pharmacist.

… BMC Geriatr … BMC Geriatr … Transitions of care represent a vulnerable time for patients. Older adults in particular may experience a variety of challenges related to such transitions, … patients during care transitions. … Manias E, Bucknall T, Hughes C, Jorm C, Woodward-Kron R. Family involvement in …

This retrospective cohort study of patients age 65 and older on chronic medications found that unintentional medication discontinuation does occur following hospitalization. As with prior studies, medication documentation in hospital discharge summaries remains highly variable.

… at the time of hospital discharge , most of which involved a pharmacist-mediated intervention. Overall, there was no … either medication discrepancies or adverse drug events. A previous commentary discussed the challenges in …

Although certain medication classes pose increased risks to children, well-defined criteria for potentially inappropriate prescribing for pediatric patients have not been established. This study described an iterative consensus-building process which identified 12 indicators of potentially inappropriate medications for children. Future studies will test the validity of these indicators.

Discussing the evidence on the role of health information technology (IT) on overprescribing, this review describes how health IT can be optimized to reduce medication errors.

This study describes the development of improved alerts and alternate treatment algorithms to reduce the number of adverse drug events associated with potentially inappropriate medication use in the elderly.

… frequently overrode drug safety warnings, generally due to a perception that many alerts were unnecessary. …

This AHRQ-funded study found that nursing home employees were more likely to have a positive opinion of the workplace culture of safety when the survey was distributed on site rather than mailed.

The authors determined that evaluation guidelines for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services surveyors were ineffective in minimizing the use of inappropriate medications in nursing homes.

… Research and Quality (AHRQ)–supported study discovered a need to better address safety culture in nursing homes, drawing on findings from a self-reported survey. Investigators surveyed more than 360 …

An information technology–based intervention, which identified nursing home patients at high risk for adverse drug events and recommended customized management strategies, successfully reduced the risk of delirium.