Adverse Drug Events
The adoption and delivery of safe medication practices has been a major driver to our work in recent years. Medications offer significant benefit to the management of chronic disease however, they can come with great risk when not administered or supervised properly. This can potentially cause what are called Adverse Drug Events (ADE's). It is estimated that as much as 50% of injuries associated with medication use could be prevented. Some characteristics of those at highest risk for harm include individuals who:
- Have 5 or more chronic conditions
- Take 8 or more medications
- Have 2 or more care providers
- Are on regular warfarin therapy
- Are prescribed antipsychotics (short or long acting)
- Take hypoglycemic medications for diabetes
Goal
Reduce ADE's in the population of focus (PoF); eligible Medicare beneficiaries having met one or more criteria for the high risk population through teamwork and processes that integrate clinical pharmacy services into patient care.
Metrics
Data collection and intervention will be targeted to track improvement in the following clinical indicators:
- Adverse Drug Events (ADEs)
- Potential ADEs
- INR for patients on warfarin
- HgA1Cs for diabetic patients on medications
- Patients on antipsychotics
- Number of ER visits, hospitalizations related to ADEs
Ways to Partner
A multidisciplinary approach is imperative to address the complex circumstances surrounding medication safety. Through collaboration, we can advance patient safety on both the local and statewide level.
Local:
KFMC will convene several teams throughout Kansas comprised of community pharmacists, healthcare providers from all care settings and pharmacy groups. Each community team will be working toward local reduction of harm and implementation of evidence based safety practices in at least 100 beneficiaries in the PoF.
Statewide:
Statewide momentum for reducing ADE's will be fostered through formation of a network of healthcare stakeholders including patients, nursing home residents and their families.