Effect of sacubitril/valsartan on hospital readmissions in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in Saudi Arabia: A multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Sacubitril/valsartan is an angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI) that has been shown in multiple clinical trials to have clinical benefits and is recommended by major clinical management guidelines as a first-line treatment for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). The most significant benefit that was observed in clinical trials is its effect in reducing hospital readmissions. However, little evidence supports its effectiveness in practice, especially in Saudi Arabia. A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted using the patient medical records at 2 tertiary hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Eligible patients were adults (≥18 years old) with a confirmed diagnosis of HFrEF who were discharged on either sacubitril/valsartan or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI)/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) in addition to the other recommended therapy for HFrEF. The primary endpoint was the all-cause 30-day readmission rate. The secondary endpoints included all-cause readmissions at 60-day, 90-day, and 12 months. Additionally, 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day readmissions due to HF were evaluated. A total of 398 patients were included in our analysis; 199 (50.0%) received sacubitril/valsartan (group 1), and 199 (50.0%) received ACEI/ARB (group 2). Our results showed that all-cause 30-day readmissions in group 1 were significantly lower than in group 2 (7% vs 25.0%, RR 0.28, 95% Cl 0.16-0.49; P < .001). Additionally, the secondary outcomes showed significantly fewer 60-day, 90-day, and 12-month all-cause readmissions were identified in group 1 compared to group 2 (11% vs 30.7%, RR 0.36, 95% CI 0.23-0.56; P < .001), (11.6%. vs 32.6%, RR 0.35, 95% CI 0.23-0.55; P < .001) and (23.6% vs 51.2%, RR 0.46, 95% CI 0.35-0.62; P < .001), respectively. Furthermore, HF readmissions at 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day in group 1 were significantly lower than in group 2 (P < .05). Sacubitril/valsartan for the treatment of HFrEF is associated with a significantly lower rate of all-cause readmission as well as HF readmissions compared to ACEI/ARB. These benefits extend up to 12 months post-discharge.

Assessment of clinical pharmacist interventions using a web-based application in a Saudi Arabian Tertiary Hospital.

Objectives: Medication-related problems are a top concern of clinical pharmacists. Medication-related problems can cause patient harm and increase the number of visits, hospital admissions, and length of hospital stay. The objective was to assess clinical pharmacy medication-related problem-related interventions in a tertiary care setting. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) between June 2021 and June 2022. The data were extracted monthly from a new web-based Microsoft Excel application documenting medication-related problems during any stage of the medication use process. Results: A total of 5310 medication-related problem-related interventions in 1494 patients were performed. The departments associated with the highest frequency of medication-related problem-related interventions were the critical care unit (26.9%), intensive care unit (23.8%), anticoagulation clinic (17.1%), medical ward (11.3%), and nephrology unit (6.8%). The most common type of medication-related problem-related interventions included inappropriate dosage regimens (25.6%), monitoring drug effect or therapeutic drug monitoring (24.4%), requirement of additional drug therapy (21.9%), and inappropriate drug selection (14.1%). The proposed interventions were accepted by physicians in 97% of the incidents. The most frequent medication classes associated with medication-related problem-related interventions were cardiovascular agents (47.6%), antimicrobial agents (27.2%), and nutrition and blood substitute agents (11.4%). The most frequent medication groups associated with medication-related problem-related interventions were anticoagulants (25.6%) and antibiotics (25.2%). Conclusions: The current findings characterize the medication-related problem-related interventions addressed in clinical pharmacy at a tertiary care setting. The high rate of physician acceptance emphasizes the integral patient safety role of clinical pharmacy services.

Improving Inpatient Medication Dispensing with an Automated System.

Introduction: Medication inventory management and error prevention are complex issues. Single interventions are insufficient to make improvement across the spectrum. A uniform system for dispensing and distributing medications can help reduce the risk of medication errors, improve efficiency, and minimize waste. This quality improvement project aims to: 1) decrease - the time from ordering medication to administration, including delay incidents, by > 70%; and 2) decrease the inpatient monthly total medication consumption by > 20% and ward medication stock items by > 70%, including decreasing returned items and loss from in-house expired medications by > 70%. Methods: A Six-Sigma approach was applied to eliminate deficiencies throughout the medication management process. Failure mode effect analysis and staff surveys were used to evaluate implementation of automated dispensing cabinet (ADCs) and reengineered workflows for expensive, misused, and restricted medications. Results: After the new processes were implemented, the turnaround time from ordering medication to administration was reduced by 83%, with zero delay incidents reported. Most nurses (64%) and pharmacists (67%) stated that implementation of ADCs increased their productivity by more than 40%. Monthly medication consumption was reduced by 24%, with an estimated annual saving of $4,100,000 USD. The number of returned items per month was reduced by 72%, and the estimated annual savings from loss of in-house expired medications was $750,000 USD. Conclusions: This quality improvement project positively impacted stock control while reducing costs and turnaround time for inpatient medication dispensing. Medication delay incidents were reduced, and staff satisfaction levels were positive. Next steps are to reengineer narcotic, anesthesia, and refrigerated products' management.

Assessment of the Safety, Efficacy, and Benefit of Empagliflozin in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF) at High Risk for Cardiovascular Events.

Background Since the increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), heart failure coexisting with it has had a significant impact on clinical management and prognosis. Patients with T2DM and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) have increased mortality and morbidity. Empagliflozin, a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, is widely acknowledged to reduce cardiovascular risk in T2DM patients. We wanted to assess the composite outcomes of heart failure, cardiovascular death, and hospitalization following the start of empagliflozin therapy in the Saudi population. Methods This is a retrospective observational study conducted at King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital-Jeddah. We included patients aged 18 or older, male or female, with T2DM with HFrEF <40% and with a risk of cardiovascular events who were treated with empagliflozin 25 mg once daily as combination therapy and patients using other diabetic agents without empagliflozin as the comparative group. Results A total of 195 patients with T2DM and HFrEF who were at high risk for cardiovascular (CV) events were included in the study. Regarding gender, most of the patients (82.1%) were male with an average age of 61.28 ± 9.92. The patients were divided into 71 individuals who received empagliflozin and 124 who did not. When comparing the surgical procedure and comorbid status of the patients, coronary artery bypass graft (1.4%), coronary artery disease (5.6%), dyslipidemia (5.6%), and ischemic cardiomyopathy (0%) were found compared to the non-empagliflozin group. Meanwhile, hypertension was found to be 71.8% and ischemic heart disease was 50.7% in empagliflozin patients. Furthermore, only dyslipidemia differed significantly (p <0.001) between the empagliflozin and non-empagliflozin groups of patients. However, no significant differences were observed between the average low-density lipoprotein (p = 0.990) and high-density lipoprotein (p = 0.399). There was no significant difference observed in the primary outcome of CV deaths or hospital admission of patients between empagliflozin and non-empagliflozin. No deaths were reported in either of the comparative groups in our study. Conclusion In this study, there was no significant difference observed in hospital admission of the patients between the empagliflozin and non-empagliflozin groups. No cardiovascular mortality was reported in the study population. Further matched group comparative studies or placebo-controlled studies are required to compare the existing evidence of the impact of empagliflozin on T2DM patients with HFrEF and at high risk for CV deaths or hospital admission.