Implementing pharmacists' medication safety recommendations is associated with reduced health care resource utilization and mortality in high-risk older Americans.

Background: A medication safety review (MSR) is a novel, pharmacist-driven, technology-supported intervention that prioritizes adverse drug event risk mitigation. Previous research has shown that Medicare Part D beneficiaries who received MSRs in an enhanced medication therapy management (EMTM) model realized improvements in total Medicare spending, hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) visits, and mortality compared to control. However, it is unknown whether beneficiaries implemented pharmacists' MSR recommendations.

Pharmacist-driven interventions to de-escalate urinary antimuscarinics in the Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.

Background: Given associations with serious cognitive and physical adverse effects (e.g., dementia, falls), strong anticholinergics, like urinary antimuscarinics (UAMs), should be avoided in older adults.

Evaluating the Impact of Medication Risk Mitigation Services in Medically Complex Older Adults.

Adverse drug events (ADEs) represent an expensive societal burden that disproportionally affects older adults. Therefore, value-based organizations that provide care to older adults—such as the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)—should be highly motivated to identify actual or potential ADEs to mitigate risks and avoid downstream costs. We sought to determine whether PACE participants receiving medication risk mitigation (MRM) services exhibit improvements in total healthcare costs and other outcomes compared to participants not receiving structured MRM.

Health outcomes from an innovative enhanced medication therapy management model.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of pharmacist-delivered medication safety reviews (MSRs) on total medical expenditures, hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) visits, and mortality in Medicare Part D beneficiaries, whose plan was a participant of the Enhanced Medication Therapy Management model.

Study Design: Retrospective, pre-post, cohort study.

Methods: We evaluated the aforementioned outcomes for beneficiaries who were targeted, according to their MedWise Risk Scores (MRS), for MSR services in both 2018 and 2019.

Medication-related problems identified by pharmacists in an enhanced medication therapy management model.

Objectives: To describe the types of clinically actionable medication-related problems (MRPs) identified and the types of resolving recommendations issued by pharmacists using an advanced clinical decision support system (CDSS) for Medicare Part D beneficiaries.

Study Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study.

Methods: We examined frequencies of MRPs and recommendations for beneficiaries who received a first-ever medication safety review (MSR) during plan years 2018-2019.

Opioids, Polypharmacy, and Drug Interactions: A Technological Paradigm Shift Is Needed to Ameliorate the Ongoing Opioid Epidemic.

Polypharmacy is a common phenomenon among adults using opioids, which may influence the frequency, severity, and complexity of drug-drug interactions (DDIs) experienced. Clinicians must be able to easily identify and resolve DDIs since opioid-related DDIs are common and can be life-threatening. Given that clinicians often rely on technological aids-such as clinical decision support systems (CDSS) and drug interaction software-to identify and resolve DDIs in patients with complex drug regimens, this narrative review provides an appraisal of the performance of existing technologies.

Association of a Novel Medication Risk Score with Adverse Drug Events and Other Pertinent Outcomes Among Participants of the Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.

Preventable adverse drug events (ADEs) represent a significant public health challenge for the older adult population, since they are associated with higher medical expenditures and more hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits. This study examines whether a novel medication risk prediction tool, the MedWise Risk Score™ (MRS), is associated with ADEs and other pertinent outcomes in participants of the Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Unlike other risk predictors, this tool produces actionable information that pharmacists can easily use to reduce ADE risk.

Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) Interactions Involving Atypical Antipsychotics are Common in Community-Dwelling Older Adults Treated for Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia.

Treatment of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) and comorbidities often necessitates the concomitant use of antipsychotics and non-antipsychotic drugs, thereby potentiating the risk for drug-drug interactions (DDIs).The primary objective of our study was to identify potentially clinically relevant cytochrome P450 (CYP)-mediated DDIs involving antipsychotics among participants enrolled in the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) with BPSD. Additionally, we wanted to determine the prevalence of antipsychotic use in this population.

Prescriber-Initiated Engagement of Pharmacists for Information and Intervention in Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.

Little is known about the types of drug information inquiries (DIIs) prescribers caring for older adults ask pharmacists during routine practice. The objective of this research was to analyze the types of DIIs prescribing clinicians of Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) made to clinical pharmacists during routine patient care. This was a retrospective analysis of documented pharmacists' encounters with PACE prescribers between March through December, 2018.

Medication-related problems encountered in the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly: An observational study.

Objective: To evaluate pharmacist-encountered medication-related problems (MRPs) among the participants of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).

Design: This was a retrospective analysis of proprietary pharmacy records detailing pharmacist encounters with PACE clinical staff.

Setting And Participants: A national provider of pharmacy services to more than 75 PACE organizations.