A New Interdisciplinary Collaboration Structure to Improve Medication Safety in the Elderly

A New Interdisciplinary Collaboration Structure in Secondary and Primary Care to Improve Medication Safety in the Elderly

Suboptimal use of medications among geriatric patients is well-known problem and leads to medication errors, re-hospitalizations and death. By using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design the investigators aim to explore a new inter-professional working structure. The working structure is based on the scientifically and clinically acknowledged integrated medicines management (IMM) model. The overall aim of the study is to explore the effect of the new working structure on the composite endpoint re-hospitalization + visit to an emergency department during 12 months after hospital discharge.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged ≥70 years
• Admitted to the geriatric internal medicine ward in the University Hospital of North Norway (UNN) Tromsø or the general internal medicine ward in UNN Harstad.
• Willing to provide written informed consent during hospital stay (patient or next of kin)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Unable to communicate in Norwegian (patient or next of kind)
• Terminally ill, e.g cancer in end-life stage
• Control group patients where the physician request an assessment from a pharmacist
• Time from admittance to the ward to inclusion is more than 72 hours
• Occupying a bed in the study wards but under the care of physicians from a non-study ward.
• Planned discharged on the inclusion day