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Integrated medicines management - can routine implementation improve quality?
- Source :
- Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice; Aug2012, Vol. 18 Issue 4, p807-815, 9p, 10 Charts, 1 Graph
- Publication Year :
- 2012
-
Abstract
- Rationale, aims and objectives Previous service development work in the area of integrated medicines management (IMM) has demonstrated clear quality improvements in a targeted group of patients within a hospital in Northern Ireland. In order to determine whether this programme could be transferable to routine practice and thereby assess its generalizability, research has been carried out to quantify the health care benefits of incorporating the concept of IMM as routine clinical practice. Method The IMM programme of care was delivered to all eligible patients (subject to inclusion criteria) across two hospital sites in Northern Ireland during normal pharmacy opening hours. All patients were followed up for a period of 12 months from their time of hospital admission. All patient data were collected using the custom-designed Electronic Pharmacist Intervention Clinical System at each stage of their hospital journey, that is, admission, inpatient stay and discharge. Results Patients who received the IMM service benefited from a reduced length of hospital stay on their reference admission (1.42 days; P = 0.020) as well as a reduced length of stay during the first rehospitalization (5.86 days; P = 0.013). There was also a trend of a reduced number of readmissions and a longer time to readmission during the 12-month follow-up period. Potential significant opportunity cost savings were demonstrated as well as a significant improvement in medication appropriateness (discharge vs. reference admission). Conclusions The IMM programme of care has proven to be transferable to routine hospital care within two hospitals in Northern Ireland. It is anticipated that this current research will further inform the development of IMM as routine clinical practice across Northern Ireland and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- INTEGRATED health care delivery
ACADEMIC medical centers
AGE distribution
ANALYSIS of covariance
CHI-squared test
CONFIDENCE intervals
STATISTICAL correlation
COST control
COST effectiveness
EPIDEMIOLOGY
LENGTH of stay in hospitals
HOSPITALS
HOSPITAL health promotion programs
PHARMACY databases
INTERPROFESSIONAL relations
LONGITUDINAL method
MEDICAL care
MEDICAL quality control
MEDICAL cooperation
MEDICAL prescriptions
HEALTH outcome assessment
PATIENTS
QUALITY assurance
RESEARCH
RESEARCH funding
STATISTICS
SURVIVAL analysis (Biometry)
LOGISTIC regression analysis
DATA analysis
PATIENT readmissions
EVALUATION of human services programs
DATA analysis software
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 13561294
- Volume :
- 18
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 77437129
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01682.x