Implementation of a QTc-interval monitoring protocol by pharmacists to decrease cardiac risk in at-risk patients in an acute care inpatient psychiatric facility.

Introduction: Many medications commonly prescribed in psychiatric hospitals can cause QTc-interval prolongation, increasing a patient's risk for torsades de pointes and sudden cardiac death. There is little guidance in the literature to determine when an electrocardiogram (ECG) and QTc-interval monitoring should be performed. The primary end point was improvement of the appropriateness of ECGs and QTc-interval monitoring of at-risk psychiatric inpatients at Barnabas Health Behavioral Health Center (BHBH) and Monmouth Medical Center (MMC) following implementation of a standardized monitoring protocol. The secondary end point was the number of pharmacist-specific interventions at site BHBH only.

Methods: Patients who met the inclusion criteria were assessed using a standardized QTc-prolongation assessment algorithm for ECG appropriateness. A retrospective analysis of a control group (no protocol) from January 1, 2016, to July 17, 2017, was compared with a prospective analysis of the intervention group (with protocol) from December 11, 2017, to March 11, 2018.

Results: At BHBH, appropriate ECG utilization increased 25.5% after implementation of a standardized protocol ( = .0172) and appropriate omission of ECG utilization improved by 26% ( < .00001). At MMC, appropriate ECGs decreased by 5%, and appropriate ECG omissions increased by 28%, neither of which were statistically significant ( = 1.0 and  = .3142, respectively). There was an increase in overall pharmacist monitoring.

Discussion: The study demonstrated that pharmacist involvement in ECG and QTc-interval monitoring utilizing a uniform protocol may improve the appropriateness of ECG and QTc-interval monitoring in patients in an acute care inpatient psychiatric hospital.