Impact of a passive clinical decision support tool on potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) use in older adult patients.

Background: Medication related clinical decision support (CDS) interventions may improve patient safety. In older patient populations, there has been effort placed in reducing exposure to potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs). After years of reducing exposure of older adults in our hospitals to PIMs through multi-component interventions, our system chose to expand the scope and attempt a new strategy to lessen alert burden for providers and pharmacists.

Prevalence of Cognitive Impairment Among Elderly Patients Upon Hospital Admission Using Mini-Cog™ Assessments Performed by Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Students.

Background: Older adults with cognitive impairment may have difficulty understanding and complying with medical or medication instructions provided during hospitalization which may adversely impact patient outcomes.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of cognitive impairment among patients aged 65 years and older within 24 hours of hospital admission using Mini-Cog™ assessments performed by advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) students.

Methods: Students on APPE rotations were trained to perform Mini-Cog™ assessments during routine medication education sessions from February 2017 to April 2017.