BECOME AN EMPOWERED PART OF YOUR PATIENT’S HEALTHCARE TEAM WITH HOME MEDICINE REVIEWS
According to a report into medication safety prepared by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA), 96% of residents in aged care facilities have experienced at least one medication related problem, with an average of three medication related problems per resident.
As a nurse, it is often your responsibility to ensure aged care or in-home care patients are taking their medications properly and safely. Even as a Nurse Practitioner, it is post-hospitalisation and GP prescribed medicines that can cause problems and adverse reactions. According to the PSA, the average patient experiences four or more medication related problems among their prescriptions.
Your care plan reviewing the progress of a patient such as management of chronic diseases (e.g. diabetes) and the difficulties they experience in keeping on top of medications and dosages is integral to the ongoing treatment of patients under your care. One way to ensure patient medications are well reviewed is to recommend a Home Medicine Review.
A Home Medicine Review sees an accredited pharmacist come to the home of a patient to ascertain whether their medical regimen is appropriate and beneficial to their overall wellbeing.
Nurses attached to a clinic may suggest an HMR to a patient’s attending physician or GP to ensure that medication-related problems are resolved quickly.
GPs can refer patients to the HMR using a simple integration into their patient management software. This automatically generates referrals to accredited HMR pharmacists, reducing administration and duplicate work.
HMRs drastically reduce the amount of medication-related problems in the community such as excessive dosages or contraindications contributing to re-hospitalization.
ASK YOUR GP FOR HMR REFERRAL INTEGRATION
To find out more how your clinic can benefit from integrating HMR referrals into its patient management system, call the team at South Australia Home Medicine Reviews today for a consultation or to set up a demonstration.