The impact of including a medication review in an integrated care pathway: A pilot study.

AIM: The objective of the present study was to measure the impact of the intervention of combining a medication review with an integrated care approach on potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and hospital readmissions in frail older adults. METHODS: A cohort of hospitalized older adults enrolled in the French PAERPA integrated care pathway (the exposed cohort) was matched retrospectively with hospitalized older adults not enrolled in the pathway (unexposed cohort) between January 1st, 2015, and December 31st, 2018. The study was an analysis of French health administrative database. The inclusion criteria for exposed patients were admission to an acute care department in a general hospital, age 75 years or over, at least three comorbidities or the prescription of diuretics or oral anticoagulants, discharge alive and performance of a medication review. RESULTS: For the study population (n = 582), the mean ± standard deviation age was 82.9 ± 4.9 years, and 380 (65.3%) were women. Depending on the definition used, the overall median number of PIMs ranged from 2 [0;3] on admission to 3 [0;3] at discharge. The intervention was not associated with a significant difference in the mean number of PIMs. Patients in the exposed cohort were half as likely to be readmitted to hospital within 30 days of discharge relative to patients in the unexposed cohort. CONCLUSION: Our results show that a medication review was not associated with a decrease in the mean number of PIMs. However, an integrated care intervention including the medication review was associated with a reduction in the number of hospital readmissions at 30 days.

GPs' interest in integrated care for frail older adults and corresponding consulting and prescribing data: qualitative and quantitative analyses of the PAERPA integrated care project.

BACKGROUND: Integrated care pathways can help to avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital and improve the overall quality of care for frail older patients. Although these integrated care pathways should be coordinated by GPs their level of commitment may vary. AIM: To profile GPs who had participated or had declined to participate in the Personnes Agées En Risque de Perte d'Autonomie (PAERPA) integrated care project (ICP) in the Valenciennois-Quercitain area of France between 2014 and 2019. DESIGN AND SETTING: A combined qualitative and quantitative analysis of GPs who were participating in or had declined to participate in the PAERPA ICP. METHOD: Both GPs participating in the ICP and GPs who chose not to participate in the ICP were interviewed, and then consultation and prescription profiles for these two groups were compared. RESULTS: Some GPs were interested in the PAERPA ICP, whereas others were opposed. The 48 qualitative interviews revealed four issues that influenced participation in the PAERPA ICP: 1) awareness of issues in care of older adults and the value of collaborative work; 2) time saving; 3) task delegation; and 4) advantages of coordination. The level of interest in the ICP for frail older adults was indirectly reflected by the data on consulting and prescribing. In GPs who participated in the PAERPA ICP there was a greater proportion of older (aged ≥70 years) patients (P<0.05), a larger number of consultations per year (P<0.05), and a larger number of home visits (P<0.01), relative to GPs who declined to participate. CONCLUSION: The level of interest in the PAERPA ICP for frail older adults varied widely among GPs. These findings suggest that commitment to an integrated care pathway could be increased by customising the recruitment strategy as a function of the GP's profile.

Accuracy of the French Administrative Database to Describe Patients' Medication and Primary Care Visits: A Validation Study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of the French health administrative database to describe patients' medication and primary care visits, in the context of a transitional care intervention including an in-hospital medication reconciliation followed by a structured community follow-up by the patient's general practitioner and pharmacist. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study of older persons enrolled in the transitional care intervention between January 1st, 2015 and December 31st, 2018. RESULTS: Only 46.1% of the community follow-up were timely billed, in the 3 months after the patient discharge. The sensitivity of the health administrative database to identify medications was 90.0%. Its positive predictive value was 50.1%. CONCLUSION: This study reveals that the French health administrative database was poorly reliable to identify both community follow-up and chronic medications.

Barriers and Facilitators in the Uptake of Integrated Care Pathways for Older Patients by Healthcare Professionals: A Qualitative Analysis of the French National "Health Pathway of Seniors for Preserved Autonomy" Pilot Program: Barriers and Facilitators for Adhesion of Healthcare Professionals in Integrated Care for Older Patients: A Qualitative Assessment Based on the French National Experiment: 'Health Pathway of Seniors for Preserved Autonomy' (PAERPA).

INTRODUCTION: Integrated care is a particularly promising approach in geriatrics - a field in which the medical, psychological and social issues are often complex. The uptake of integrated care by healthcare professionals (HCPs) is essential but varies markedly. The objective of the present study of healthcare professionals was to identify barriers to and facilitators of commitment to integrated care for seniors. METHODS: We performed a two-step, qualitative study, comprising (i) six qualitative, semi-directive series of interviews with HCPs (hospital practitioners, family physicians, nurses and pharmacists) who agreed or disagreed to take part in the French national "Health Pathway of Seniors for Preserved Autonomy" (PAERPA) pilot program; and (ii) an analysis of the pooled results, in order to identify common concerns among the healthcare professionals. RESULTS: We identified four key "barrier" and "facilitator" topics shared by HCPs who had committed to the pilot program and those who had not: (i) awareness of and/or interest in geriatric medicine and team working, (ii) the presence of a care coordinator; (iii) the provision of information about the program and about the patient, and communication between HCPs, and (iv) personal benefits for the HCPs and the patients. KEY CONCLUSIONS: The four key topics identified in this large qualitative study of several healthcare professions should be considered during the design and dissemination of integrated care pathways for older patients.

Effect of automated drug distribution systems on medication error rates in a short-stay geriatric unit.

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of an automated drug distribution system on medication errors (MEs). METHODS: Before-after observational study in a 40-bed short stay geriatric unit within a 1800 bed general hospital in Valenciennes, France. Researchers attended nurse medication administration rounds and compared administered to prescribed drugs, before and after the drug distribution system changed from a ward stock system (WSS) to a unit dose dispensing system (UDDS), integrating a unit dose dispensing robot and automated medication dispensing cabinet (AMDC). RESULTS: A total of 615 opportunities of errors (OEs) were observed among 148 patients treated during the WSS period, and 783 OEs were observed among 166 patients treated during the UDDS period. ME [medication administration error (MAE)] rates were calculated and compared between the two periods. Secondary measures included type of errors, seriousness of errors and risk reduction for the patients. The implementation of an automated drug dispensing system resulted in a 53% reduction in MAEs. All error types were reduced in the UDDS period compared with the WSS period (P<0.001). Wrong dose and wrong drug errors were reduced by 79.1% (2.4% versus 0.5%, P=0.005) and 93.7% (1.9% versus 0.01%, P=0.009), respectively. CONCLUSION: An automated UDDS combining a unit dose dispensing robot and AMDCs could reduce discrepancies between ordered and administered drugs, thus improving medication safety among the elderly.