A Clinical Decision Aid Identifies Patients at High Risk for an Adverse Drug Event

This easy-to-use rule allows busy ED pharmacists to target their medication reviews to these high-risk patients.

Polypharmacy is common in emergency department (ED) patients, especially geriatric patients, and approximately 1 in 10 ED visits is related to an adverse drug event (ADE). ED pharmacists have many responsibilities, including medication review and reconciliation, with an eye to identifying patients who have had — or who are at high risk for — ADEs. Given ED volumes, performing such reviews of all patients is not possible. These researchers developed a decision aid in 2012 that allowed for targeted medication reviews based on these variables: pre-existing medical conditions, age older than 80, and antibiotic use within 7 days or medication change within 28 days. This study was conducted in three Canadian EDs from 2014 to 2015 to validate two …

Reviewing Author

Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, MPH

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Board Member); American College of Healthcare Executives – Massachusetts (Board Member)

Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, MPH

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Board Member); American College of Healthcare Executives – Massachusetts (Board Member)

A Clinical Decision Aid Identifies Patients at High Risk for an Adverse Drug Event

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Reviewing Author