Implementation of pharmacist-led deprescribing in collaborative primary care settings.

In many jurisdictions pharmacists share prescribing responsibilities with other members of the primary care team. Responsibility for deprescribing, the healthcare professional supervised withdrawal of medications that are no longer needed, has not been assumed by a specific member of the primary care team. In this commentary we describe implementation of pharmacist-led deprescribing in collaborative primary care settings using the seven components of knowledge translation.

Spread and scale of an electronic deprescribing software to improve health outcomes of older adults living in nursing homes: study protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial.

Background: Medication overload or problematic polypharmacy is a major problem causing widespread harm, particularly to older adults. Taking multiple medications increases the risk of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs), and residents in long-term care (LTC) are frequently prescribed 10 or more medications at once. One strategy to address this problem is for the physician and/or pharmacist to perform regular medication reviews; however, this process can be complicated and time-consuming.

Quality of Best Possible Medication History upon Admission to Hospital: Comparison of Nurses and Pharmacy Students and Consideration of National Quality Indicators.

Background: Medication reconciliation at transitions of care increases patient safety. Collection of an accurate best possible medication history (BPMH) on admission is a key step. National quality indicators are used as surrogate markers for BPMH quality, but no literature on their accuracy exists.

Patients' recall of interaction with a pharmacist during hospital admission.

Background: CSHP 2015 objective 1.5 proposes that at least 50% of recently hospitalized patients or their caregivers will recall speaking with a pharmacist while in the hospital.

Objective: To determine the baseline prevalence of patients' recall of interaction with a pharmacist during their hospital admission and their level of satisfaction with these encounters, following a major reorganization of health authorities in New Brunswick.