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BACKGROUND: The appropriate use of medicines has long been recognized as a fundamental component of medicine policies. We aimed to extract lessons from published research on how policy contexts and mechanisms can affect the outcomes of national- or health-system level interventions to promote appropriate medicine use (defined as an increase in underutilized medications or decrease in inappropriate medication use). METHODS: We conducted a rapid realist review of published evidence concerning system-level policies to promote the appropriate use of medicines in high-income countries with universal prescription drug coverage. We searched MEDLINE and Embase to identify relevant publications. We used a realist evaluation framework to identify contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes for each intervention and to hypothesize which policy contexts and mechanisms supported successful outcomes in terms of relative changes in the prevalence of use of the specific medication classes targeted. RESULTS: From 1,318 identified studies, 18 met our inclusion criteria. 13 distinct policies were identified. Three main policy-related factors underpinned successful interventions: involving providers and patients through program interventions; central coordination through national agencies dedicated to medicine policies; and the establishment of an explicit and integrated national medicine policy strategy. CONCLUSION: Policymakers can improve coordination of national pharmaceutical policies to reduce harms from inappropriate medicines use, thus improving health outcomes through cost-effective programs.

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BACKGROUND: Guidelines recommend reluctant psychotropic drug (PD) prescribing in nursing home residents with dementia and neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS), as efficacy of PDs is limited, and side effects are common. Nevertheless, PDs are commonly prescribed to reduce NPS. A smartphone application that evaluates appropriateness of PD prescriptions and provides recommendations from the revised Dutch guideline on problem behaviour in dementia may promote guideline adherence and increase appropriate prescribing. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess user experiences, barriers and facilitators of the Dutch 'Psychotropic Drug Tool' smartphone application (PDT) in the context of appropriate prescribing of PDs to nursing home residents with dementia and NPS. METHODS/DESIGN: The PDT was developed according to the recommendations of the Dutch guideline for treatment of NPS in people with dementia. Feedback provided during usability testing with two end-users was applied to improve the PDT before implementation in day-to-day practice. Sixty-three prescribers were asked to use the PDT at their own convenience for four months. User expectations and experiences were assessed at baseline and after four months with the System Usability Scale and the Assessment of Barriers and Facilitators for Implementation. RESULTS: Expected usability (M = 72.59; SD = 11.84) was similar to experienced usability after four months (M = 69.13; SD = 16.48). Appreciation of the PDTs user-friendliness (on average 6.7 out of 10) and design (7.3) were moderately positive, in contrast to the global rating of the PDT (5.7). Perceived barriers for PDT use were time consumption and lack of integration with existing electronic systems. Perceived facilitators were ease of use and attractive lay out. For broader implementation, physicians suggested a change in direction of the PDT: start assessment of appropriateness based on the list of NPS instead of PD as primary input. CONCLUSIONS: In this pragmatic prospective cohort study we found that the PDT was used by elderly care physicians, with mediocre user satisfaction. The PDT will be optimized based on user feedback regarding experienced usability, barriers and facilitators, after which broader implementation can be initialized. The Medical Ethics Review Board of the University Medical Center Groningen declared this is a non-WMO study (UMCG RR Number: 201800284).

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Background: The aging population has increased concerns about the affordability, quality, and nature of long-term care for older people, emphasizing the role of nursing homes. Unlike acute hospital and primary care, there is a lack of drug consumption data in long-term care to understand regional or national healthcare policies. Objectives: This study aimed to describe medication consumption by older adults and expenditure in Italian nursing homes (NHs). Methods: Data on drug consumption and costs from the administrative medicine informational flows that detect medicines packages supplied to patients in health facilities and NHs were used. Data on the characteristics of the healthcare residence were from the Italian Health Ministry. Records for the year 2019, selecting the nursing homes exclusively providing elderly or mixed (elderly and disabled) were used. Results: In 2019, the total expenditure on medicines in NHs amounted to 25.38 million euros, the average cost to 1.30 and the expenditure per bed to 436.18 euros. Cardiovascular drugs were the highest-consuming therapeutic class (177.0 defined daily doses-DDDs/100 days of NH stay; 22.2% of total) followed by drugs acting on the alimentary tract and metabolism (167.6% and 21.0%) and blood drugs (160.4% and 20.1%). The treatment of hypertension and heart failure was widely the most frequently used, with the consumption being driven mainly by furosemide and ramipril. Antiulcer drugs were used on average in more than half of the days of NH stay (58.5 DDDs/100 days of NH stay), representing a therapeutic category for which deprescribing initiatives are recommended. On average, almost all patients received a dose of benzodiazepines, antipsychotics and antidepressants (37.6, 35.9, and 17.7 DDDs/100 days of NH stay, respectively), confirming the high prevalence of use for these medicines. Antibiotics reached 6.8 DDDs/100 days of NH stay. Conclusion: The availability of data in this specific setting allows the identification of the main interventions toward improving appropriateness and represents a challenge for drug utilization research. Data from this study suggest that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), benzodiazepines and antibacterials can be areas of improving prescribing appropriateness.

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OBJECTIVE: To analyse the impact of a medication reconciliation tool (MRT), which contains information on all the treatments a patient is receiving upon admission as well as intra-hospital therapeutic adjustments and the rationale behind them, on the transmission and quality of the follow-up of prescribing recommendations outside the hospital setting. METHODS: The MRT involved the prescriptions of patients who were aged 75 and over, who were admitted to a geriatric short-stay unit, and who were referred to a general practitioner (GP) upon discharge. Drug discrepancies (DD) and polypharmacy after an intra-hospital medication reconciliation and at the time of renewing the out-patient prescription (one month after discharge) were measured. Satisfaction among GPs was investigated. RESULTS: The medication lists of 173 patients (1242 drugs; median eight drugs/day) were reconciled, optimised, and communicated using the MRT to the 89 GPs of the 103 patients who returned home. Intra-hospital reconciliation identified 779 DDs (4.6 ± 2.3), of which 39.0% were additions to treatment that had been overlooked. After the discharge prescription was renewed, only 1.6 ± 1.6 DDs were measured. Between admission, discharge, and repeat prescription, polypharmacy was reduced from 83.2% to 74.6% and 67.7% (p < 0.05). Despite a 31.5% response rate to the postal questionnaire, 79.3% of physicians thought the MRT facilitated continuity of care and 75.5% wanted it to be rolled-out more widely. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the MRT is a useful tool and of interest for documenting the process of intra-hospital therapeutic optimisation and with regard to the rapid transmission and follow-up of recommendations by partners in the community.

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Antibiotic stewardship programs proved to be effective in improving prescribing appropriateness. This multicenter quasi-experimental study, aimed to assesses the stewardship impact on antibiotics prescribing in different semesters from 2014 to 2019 in three pediatric emergency departments (Center A, B, and C) in Italy. All consecutive patients diagnosed with acute otitis media or pharyngitis were evaluated for inclusion. Two different stewardship were adopted: for Center A and B, clinical pathways were implemented and disseminated, and yearly lectures were held, for Center C, only pathways were implemented. Broad-spectrum prescription rates decreased significantly by 80% for pharyngitis and 29.5 to 55.2% for otitis after the implementation. In Center C, rates gradually increased from the year after the implementation. Amoxicillin dosage adjusted to pharyngitis recommendations in Center C (53.7 vs. 51.6 mg/kg/die; p = 0.011) and otitis recommendations in Center A increasing from 50.0 to 75.0 mg/kg/die (p < 0.001). Days of therapy in children < 24 months with otitis increased from 8.0 to 10.0 in Center A, while in older children decreased in Center A (8.0 vs. 7.0; p < 0.001) and Center B (10.0 vs. 8.0; p < 0.001). Clinical pathways combined with educational lectures is a feasible and sustainable program in reducing broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing with stable rates over time.

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OBJECTIVE: To analyse the impact of a medication reconciliation toolkit (OCM) which details all the treatment at the admission, intra-hospital therapeutic adjustment and their justifications, on the transmission and quality of extra-hospital follow-up of prescribing recommendations. METHODS: The OCM was fulfilled with the prescriptions of patient aged ≥75 years admitted to a geriatric short-stay unit and sent to general practitioners (GPs) upon discharge. Drug discrepancies (DD) and exposure to polypharmacy after intra-hospital medication conciliation and the ambulatory repeat prescribing (1 month after discharge) were measured. GPs' satisfaction was investigated. RESULTS: The medication list of 173 patients (1242 molecules; median 8 molecules/day) were reconciled, optimized, and transmitted using the OCM to the 89 GPs of the 103 patients who were returned home. Intra-hospital conciliation identified 779 DD (4.6 ± 2.3) of which 39.0% were missed treatment additions. After renewal of the discharge order, only 1.6 ± 1.6 DD were measured. Between admission, discharge, and repeat prescribing, exposure to polypharmacy was reduced from 83.2 to 74.6 and 67.7% (p<0.05). Despite a 31.5% response rate to the mail questionnaire, 79.3% of physicians thought the OCM facilitated continuity of care and 75.5% wanted it generalized. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the OCM is a useful tool and of interest for documenting the process of intra-hospital therapeutic optimization and in the rapid transmission and the follow-up of recommendations by partners in the community.

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Background The Medicines use review (MUR) service, provided by community pharmacists, seeks to optimise patients' use of medicines. There is limited evidence on the clinical effectiveness of this service. Structuring MURs to include an assessment of prescribing appropriateness, facilitated by a validated prescribing screening tool, has the capacity to enhance this service. Objective To explore community pharmacists' views on the facilitators and barriers towards the utilisation of a screening tool as a guide to conducting structured MURs. Setting Community Pharmacy, Northern Ireland. Method Using the 14 domain Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), semi-structured interviews were conducted with community pharmacists. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using the Framework method. Main Outcome Measure Pharmacists' views towards utilisation of a screening tool as a guide to conducting structured MURs. Results Based on the analysis of 15 interviews, 11 TDF domains ('Knowledge', 'Skills', 'Social and professional role and identity', 'Beliefs about capabilities', 'Beliefs about consequences', 'Reinforcement', 'Goals', 'Memory, attention and decision process', 'Environmental context and resources', 'Social influences', 'Behavioural regulation') were deemed relevant. Facilitators included: knowledge of patients, clinical knowledge, perceived professional role, patients' clinical outcomes, influence of peers. Barriers included: prioritisation of other clinical activities, inability to access patients' clinical information, perceived alienation from the primary healthcare team and staffing issues. Conclusions Using the TDF, key facilitators and barriers were identified in the use of a screening tool as a guide to conducting MURs. These findings may assist in further development of MURs as a means to optimise patients' medicines use.

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Antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) improve antibiotic prescribing. Seventy-three percent of US hospitals have <200 beds. Small hospitals (<200 beds) have similar rates of antibiotic prescribing compared to large hospitals, but the majority of small hospitals lack ASPs that satisfy the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's core elements. All hospitals, regardless of size, are now required to have ASPs by The Joint Commission, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has proposed a similar requirement. Very few studies have described the successful implementation of ASPs in small hospitals. We describe barriers commonly encountered in small hospitals when constructing an antibiotic stewardship team, obtaining appropriate metrics of antibiotic prescribing, implementing antibiotic stewardship interventions, obtaining financial resources, and utilizing the microbiology laboratory. We propose potential solutions that tailor stewardship activities to the needs of the facility and the resources typically available.

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Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) cause high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Empiric therapy often base the choice of antibiotic treatment on antibacterial spectrum of the agent rather than on its pharmacological properties or the pathogen resistance profile. Inappropriate prescribing leads to therapeutic failure and antibiotic resistance, with increasing direct and indirect health costs. A consensus on appropriate prescribing in LRTI therapy was appraised by this Delphi exercise, based on a panel of 70 pulmonologists, coordinated by a Scientific Committee of nine experts in respiratory medical care. Full or very high consensus was reached on several issues, including the role of oral cephalosporins in first-line treatments of LRTIs and the appropriateness of cefditoren, with balanced spectrum and high intrinsic activity, in LRTI treatment. Evidence-based medicine approach and a comprehensive process of disease management, from diagnosis to therapy and follow-up, should guide antibiotic prescribing.

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BACKGROUND: The management of therapy in elderly is a critical aspect of primary care. The physio-pathological complexity of the elderly involves the prescription of multiple drugs, exposing them to a higher risk of adverse reactions. OBJECTIVE: Aim of this study was to assess the medication use and (potential) inappropriate medications and prescribing omissions in the elderly before and during hospitalization, according to the main tools in literature described, and their relation to the number of comorbidities. SETTING: The study was carried out by the Clinical Pharmacists at ISMETT, an Italian Research Institute. METHODS: The prescriptions of elderly, admitted in ISMETT between January and December 2012, were analyzed. The information about clinical profile of elderly and prescriptions was obtained from the electronic medical records. 2012 Beers criteria, Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions/Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment criteria, and Improving Prescribing in the Elderly criteria were used to evaluate the appropriateness of prescriptions. The correlation between the number of comorbidities and the different tools was analyzed with the Spearman correlation coefficient. The frequency analysis was done with the Pearson Chi square test. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Percentage of potentially inappropriate medications and prescribing omissions before/during hospitalization in elderly. RESULTS: 1027 elderly were admitted between January and December 2012. At admission and during hospitalization, according to Beers criteria 24 and 49 % of elderly had at least one potentially inappropriate medication, respectively; according to the Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions criteria 21 and 27 %, respectively; according to the Improving Prescribing in the Elderly criteria 28 and 25 %, respectively; and then, according to Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment criteria 28 and 33 % had at least one potentially prescribing omission, respectively. A significant correlation between comorbidities number and potentially inappropriate medications was found. CONCLUSION: The number of potentially inappropriate medications globally increased during hospitalization. Statistical analysis showed that the comorbidity affects the level of inappropriate prescriptions. Specific tools can guide clinicians toward a more rational use of medicines and minimize probable complications related to multi-treatments.

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BACKGROUND: Older people are at increased risk of drug-related problems (DRPs) caused by inappropriate use or underuse of medications which may be increased during care transitions. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of applying a validated prescribing appropriateness criteria-set during medication review in a cohort of older (≥65 years) Australians at the time of discharge from hospital. SETTING: Private hospital and homes of older patients in Sydney, Australia. METHODS: Cognitively well English speaking patients aged 65 years or over taking five or more medications were recruited. A prescribing appropriateness criteria-set and SF-36 health-related quality of life health (HRQoL) survey were applied to all patients at discharge. Patients were then randomly assigned to receive either usual care (control, n = 91) or discharge medication counselling and a medication review by a clinical pharmacist (intervention, n = 92). Medication review recommendations were sent to the general practitioners of intervention group patients. All patients were followed up at 3 months post discharge, where the prescribing appropriateness criteria-set was reapplied and HRQoL survey repeated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES change in the number of prescribing appropriateness criteria met; change in HRQoL; number and causes of DRPS identified by medication review; intervention patient medication recommendation implementation rates. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the number of criteria applicable and met in intervention patients, compared to control patients, between follow-up and discharge (0.09 ≤ p ≤ 0.97). While the difference between groups was positive at follow-up for SF-36 scores, the only domain that reached statistical significance was that for vitality (p = 0.04). Eighty-eight intervention patient medication reviews identified 750 causes of DRPs (8.5 ± 2.7 per patient). No causes of DRPs were identified in four patients. Of these causes, 76.4 % (573/750) were identified by application of the prescribing appropriateness criteria-set. GPs implemented a relatively low number (42.4 %, 318/750) of recommendations. CONCLUSION: Application of a prescribing appropriateness criteria-set during medication review in intervention patients did not increase the number of criteria met, nor result in a significant improvement in HRQoL. Higher recommendation implementation rates may require additional facilitators, including a higher quality of collaboration.

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