Effect of an In-Hospital Multifaceted Clinical Pharmacist Intervention on the Risk of Readmission: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Hospital readmissions are common among patients receiving multiple medications, with considerable costs to the patients and society.

Objective: To determine whether a multifaceted pharmacist intervention based on medication review, patient interview, and follow-up can reduce the number of readmissions and emergency department (ED) visits.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This randomized clinical multicenter study (Odense Pharmacist Trial Investigating Medication Interventions at Sector Transfer [OPTIMIST]) enrolled patients from September 1, 2013, through April 23, 2015, with a follow-up of 6 months completed on October 31, 2015.

Medication histories by pharmacy technicians and physicians in an emergency department.

Background: Medication histories (MHs) obtained at the time of patients' admission to hospital are often incomplete, and lack of information about patients' actual medicine use can potentially lead to prescribing failures and serious adverse events. Uses of clinical pharmacists in obtaining MHs are beneficial, but due to limited economic resources clinical pharmacists cannot be present in every hospital ward, and therefore pharmacy technicians (PTs) could probably be trained in obtaining MHs.

Objective: To compare discrepancies in MHs obtained by physicians and PTs in an emergency department.

Medication reconciliation and prescribing reviews by pharmacy technicians in a geriatric ward.

Objective: Incomplete medication histories obtained on hospital admission are responsible for more than 25% of prescribing errors. This study aimed to evaluate whether pharmacy technicians can assist hospital physicians' in obtaining medication histories by performing medication reconciliation and prescribing reviews. A secondary aim was to evaluate whether the interventions made by pharmacy technicians could reduce the time spent by the nurses on administration of medications to the patients.

[Antiplatelet treatment after acute and chronic ischemic heart and brain events is insufficient according to recommendations].

Introduction: Antiplatelet therapy is important in secondary prophylaxis in patients with ischemic heart, brain and vascular diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the number of patients in Vejle County admitted to hospital in the second half of 2003 with acute and chronic heart, brain and vascular diseases to evaluate the kind of secondary prophylaxis and its duration. Moreover, the study registered the number of patients with diabetes mellitus treated with antiplatelet therapy.

[Does generic lamotrigine lead to larger variations in plasma concentrations?].

Introduction: As of 1st June 2005 it is possible to market generic epilepsy drugs with the active substance lamotrigine because the patent on the original product Lamictal had expired. We wanted to investigate if generic lamotrigine leads to larger variations in plasma concentrations of lamotrigine.

Materials And Methods: The citizens of the county of Vejle treated with lamotrigine were identified and classified in three groups according to the medication used after patent expiry: original brand only, generic brand only, or both generic and original brand.

The effects of introducing a clinical pharmacist on orthopaedic wards in Denmark.

Objective: To assess the effects and cost effects of introducing clinical pharmacists on hospital wards.

Methods: Comparative prospective study on four orthopaedic surgical wards in two hospitals. The primary effect variables were 10 target areas widely considered to be indicators of good prescription practice.