Automatic stop-order policy for PRN medications in skilled nursing facilities.
From the data collected during this 4-month investigation of 37 skilled nursing facility (SNF) patients, one may conclude that using automatic stop-order policies for PRN medications is effective in controlling and eliminating unnecessary medications that are not being used by nursing home patients. PRN medications were reduced significantly from 4.1 to 2.1 per patient (p less than 0.01). Also, a significant amount of savings to these patients or their third-party payers, potentially $1500 per year in this SNF, resulted from the credit issued for discontinued unit-of-use medications. The reported potential cost savings could not have been obtained from medication being dispensed in traditional prescription packaging. Therefore, this study's data should influence state and governmental agencies to begin considering reimbursing vendor pharmacies for implementing unit-of-use packaging in their nursing homes. The data illustrate and support another method in which pharmacy consultants can prove cost-effectiveness when they are used properly in SNFs.
D000368:Aged; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007196:Indiana; D008509:Medication Systems / Q000191:economics; D012866:Skilled Nursing Facilities