title: Can Managed Care Manage Polypharmacy?
abstract: Polypharmacy has come to mean the inappropriate use of multiple medications. Polypharmacy can occur as a result of a range of situations, including the excessive application of clinical guidelines, lack of coordination among multiple prescribers, treating adverse drug events, misaligned medications across transitions of care, patient self-treatment, and inappropriate overtreatment. Polypharmacy is a problem because the benefits of a specific medication at the dose and frequency that an individual patient is taking are often outweighed by the costs. These costs can be financial; however, they may place a greater burden when they lead to unrealized benefits or adverse clinical effects.
authors.affiliation: The Access Group, 400 Connell Drive, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922, USA; Thomas Jefferson University, College of Population Health, 901 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. Electronic address: Richard.Stefanacci@jefferson.edu.
authors.forename: Richard G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Stefanacci
authors.affiliation: The Access Group, 400 Connell Drive, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922, USA.
authors.forename: Taha
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019468:Disease Management; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019338:Polypharmacy
keywords: Accountable Care Organizations (ACO); Adherence; Beers criteria; Geriatrics; Managed care; Medicare Advantage Plans (MA-PD); Polypharmacy