The Impact of Prescription Drug Control Systems on Medical Practice and Patient Care: A Summary of the NIDA Technical Review

BACKGROUND The elderly are particularly exposed to adverse events from medication. Among the various strategies to reduce polypharmacy, educational approaches have shown promising results. OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate the impact of the implementation of a good medical practice booklet on polypharmacy in nursing homes. METHODS We identified nursing homes belonging to a geriatric care provider that had launched a policy of proper medication use using a good medical practice booklet delivered to prescribers and pharmacists. Data were derived from electronic pill dispensers. The effect of the intervention on polypharmacy was assessed with multilevel regression models, with a control group to account for natural trends over time. The main outcomes were the average daily number of times when medication was administered and the number of drugs with different presentation identifier codes per resident per month. RESULTS 96,216 residents from 519 nursing homes were included between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2014. The intervention group and the control group both decreased their average daily use of medication (-0.05 and -0.06). The good medical practice booklet did not have a statistically significant effect (exponentiated difference-in-differences coefficient 1.00, 95% confidence interval 0.99-1.02, P=.45). CONCLUSIONS Although the good medical practice booklet itself did not seem effective in decreasing medication use, our data show the effectiveness of a higher-level policy to decrease polypharmacy.

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229. Hospitalists Antimicrobial Scorecard Improves Antibiotic Prescribing at a Community Teaching Hospital

Open Forum Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/ofid/ofaa439.273 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S116-S116

Author(s):

Julia Sessa ◽

Helen Jacoby ◽

Bruce Blain ◽

Lisa Avery

Keyword(s):

Patient Care ◽

Teaching Hospital ◽

Antimicrobial Stewardship ◽

Rank Order ◽

Antibiotic Use ◽

Outpatient Setting ◽

Antibiotic Prescribing ◽

Full Time ◽

Days Of Therapy ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Measuring antimicrobial consumption data is a foundation of antimicrobial stewardship programs. There is data to support antimicrobial scorecard utilization to improve antibiotic use in the outpatient setting. There is a lack of data on the impact of an antimicrobial scorecard for hospitalists. Our objective was to improve antibiotic prescribing amongst the hospitalist service through the development of an antimicrobial scorecard. Methods Conducted in a 451-bed teaching hospital amongst 22 full time hospitalists. The antimicrobial scorecard for 2019 was distributed in two phases. In October 2019, baseline antibiotic prescribing data (January – September 2019) was distributed. In January 2020, a second scorecard was distributed (October – December 2019) to assess the impact of the scorecard. The scorecard distributed via e-mail to physicians included: Antibiotic days of therapy/1,000 patient care days (corrected for attending census), route of antibiotic prescribing (% intravenous (IV) vs % oral (PO)) and percentage of patients prescribed piperacillin-tazobactam (PT) for greater than 3 days. Hospitalists received their data in rank order amongst their peers. Along with the antimicrobial scorecard, recommendations from the antimicrobial stewardship team were included for hospitalists to improve their antibiotic prescribing for these initiatives. Hospitalists demographics (years of practice and gender) were collected. Descriptive statistics were utilized to analyze pre and post data. Results Sixteen (16) out of 22 (73%) hospitalists improved their antibiotic prescribing from pre- to post-scorecard (χ 2(1)=3.68, p = 0.055). The median antibiotic days of therapy/1,000 patient care days decreased from 661 pre-scorecard to 618 post-scorecard (p = 0.043). The median PT use greater than 3 days also decreased significantly, from 18% pre-scorecard to 11% post-scorecard (p = 0.0025). There was no change in % of IV antibiotic prescribing and no correlation between years of experience or gender to antibiotic prescribing. Conclusion Providing antimicrobial scorecards to our hospitalist service resulted in a significant decrease in antibiotic days of therapy/1,000 patient care days and PT prescribing beyond 3 days. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

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Exploring the use of cannabis as a substitute for prescription drugs in a convenience sample

Harm Reduction Journal ◽

10.1186/s12954-021-00520-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sinikka L. Kvamme ◽

Michael M. Pedersen ◽

Kristine Rømer Thomsen ◽

Birgitte Thylstrup

Keyword(s):

Side Effects ◽

Drug Use ◽

Prescription Drug ◽

Prescription Drugs ◽

Online Survey ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

Patient Organizations ◽

Public Media ◽

Prescription Drug Use ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background The use of cannabis as medicine (CaM) both prescribed and non-prescribed has increased markedly in the last decade, mirrored in a global shift in cannabis policy towards a more permissive stance. There is some evidence that cannabis functions as a substitute for prescription drugs, particularly opioids; however, more knowledge is needed on the motives of substitution users, their patterns of use, and perceived effects of substitution use. Aims To explore who substitutes prescription drugs with cannabis, the type of prescription drugs substituted and the type of cannabis used, and the impact that substitution with cannabis has on prescription drug use as well as the motives for substitution in terms of experienced effects and side effects. Methods A self-selected convenience sample was recruited through social media, public media, and patient organizations to take part in an anonymous online survey. Inclusion criteria were 18 years or older and use of cannabis (prescribed or non-prescribed) with a medical purpose. Results The final sample included 2.841 respondents of which the majority (91%) used non-prescribed cannabis, and more than half (54.6%) had used CaM with the purpose of replacing a prescribed drug. Compared to non-substitution users, substitution users were more likely to be women and to use CaM in the treatment of chronic pain and other somatic conditions. Pain medication (67.2%), antidepressants (24.5%), and arthritis medication (20.7%) were the most common types of drugs replaced with CaM. Among substitution users, 38.1% reported termination of prescription drug use, and 45.9% a substantial decrease in prescription drug use. The most frequent type of cannabis used as a substitute was CBD-oil (65.2%), followed by ‘hash, pot or skunk’ (36.6%). More than half (65.8%) found CaM much more effective compared to prescription drugs, and 85.5% that the side effects associated with prescription drug use were much worse compared to use of CaM. Conclusion CaM is frequently used as a substitute for prescription drugs, particularly opioids. More research is needed on the long-term consequences of use of CaM, including the impact from low and high THC cannabis products on specific somatic and mental health conditions.

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