A quality improvement project to reduce falls and improve medication management.
This paper describes the implementation of a medication management model within a medical-center based home health agency. The model was integrated into the agency's quality improvement falls prevention program and was selected in part because it directly addressed two medication-related accreditation standards for home health care agencies. During a five-month period, a staff pharmacist conducted medication reviews for 228 HHA patients who met the program's inclusion criteria. Thirty-three percent of these patients required some type of follow-up to resolve potential medication-related problems. By far, falls were the most common reason for referral, with 71 patients, or 30% of all participating patients, referred to the pharmacist due to a recent fall. From a quality improvement standpoint, the program met and even exceeded expectations in that it enabled staff to identify a serious threat to patient safety-medication-related problems, especially falls--and gave them the tools to resolve these potential problems.
Sperling
Sandy
S
Home Care Pharmacy, 450 Spring Street, Suite 11, Long Beach, CA 90806, USA. ssperling@memorialcare.org
Neal
Katie
K
Hales
Kelly
K
Adams
Dale
D
Frey
Dennee
D
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D011786:Quality Control