A Geriatric Pharmacy Resident's Clinical and Educational Activities During Weekly interprofessional Team Meetings

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To describe and gather further details about the clinical and educational activities that were documented by the geriatric pharmacist resident during both weekly interprofessional Acute Care for the Elderly (ACE) rounds as well as bedside patient counseling. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review (quality improvement project). SETTING: Inpatient geriatric service at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). PATIENTS: Medical learners selected one complex patient from the geriatric service for ACE rounds each week. ACTIVITIES: The geriatric pharmacist resident provided clinical information and medication education to the interprofessional team and to the patient and/or family at their bedside. Activities were documented in a newly developed template. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient demographics, medication categories, discrepancies and dosing changes, time-in-rounds, and team members. RESULTS: De-identified data from 18 patients (72.2% female, average age 82.5 ± 9.18 years) over a 6-month period were collected and analyzed. The geriatric pharmacist resident provided most education to the team on antibiotics, antidepressants, over-thecounters (OTCs), and prescription pain medications during ACE rounds. They provided most education to the patient/family on prescription pain medications, antidepressants, OTCs, and anticoagulants. The pharmacist resident identified 38 medication discrepancies (72.2% of patients had ≥ 1 discrepancy, range 0-7) and clinically significant drug-drug interactions in 15 patients. The pharmacist resident recommended dosing changes in 12 patients and therapeutic alternatives in 11 patients. The ACE rounds lasted on average 26.6 [± 6.42] minutes and included medicine, pharmacy, social work, nurse case management, nursing, and nutrition and rehabilitative services when necessary. CONCLUSION: The results provide insight into both the clinical and educational activities of the geriatric pharmacist resident in support of interprofessional rounds.