Reduction of clinical support warnings through recategorization of severity levels.

PURPOSE: Study results indicating that non-clinically significant alerts generated by clinical support systems can be reduced by recategorizing alert severity levels, thereby decreasing alert fatigue, are presented. METHODS: In a single-site retrospective pre-post study, all drug-drug interaction alerts displayed by a medical center's clinical support system over a three-month baseline period were evaluated by a multidisciplinary expert panel. Based on a review of pharmaceutical package inserts and other evidence, the panel reduced the severity ranking of 99 of the 201 most frequently triggered alerts with the aim of reducing nonactionable alerts (i.e., alerts viewed but not resulting in a clinical intervention such as the discontinuation of a medication, a dose reduction, or the ordering of a laboratory test). Alert frequencies and types during the baseline period and a one-month period after adjustment of the alert severity rankings were compared to characterize the distribution of alert override responses. RESULTS: Comparison of drug-drug interaction alerts before (n = 8023) and after (n = 7270) alert recategorization indicated significant differences in pharmacists' documentation of override responses in four evaluated categories (p < 0.001 for all comparisons); notably, alerts overrides in the "not clinically significant" category declined 22%. No significant difference was detected in the numbers of reported medication errors related to clinically significant drug-drug interaction alerts before and after alert recategorization. CONCLUSION: Reducing the number of nonactionable drug-drug interaction alerts by recategorizing alert severity levels decreased alert overrides by 6%.

Inpatient warfarin management: pharmacist management using a detailed dosing protocol.

Hospitalized patients receiving anticoagulants such as warfarin are at increased risk for adverse events because of difficulties maintaining a therapeutic international normalized ratio (INR). We sought to determine whether a detailed warfarin dosing protocol administered by pharmacists with minimal physician oversight significantly reduced the proportion of hospitalized patients with a supratherapeutic INR. We conducted a prospective, nonrandomized trial with patients on cardiology, internal medicine, and family medicine inpatient services who received at least 1 dose of warfarin while hospitalized. The baseline group included 293 patients, and the intervention group comprised 217 patients. Baseline characteristics were similar in each group, except that more patients received antibiotics in the intervention group. The defect rate (INR > 5 after receiving warfarin) in the baseline group was significantly higher than in the intervention group (7.85 vs. 1.85%). Conversely, the percentage of patients with an INR less than 1.7 after 4 warfarin doses was lower in the intervention patients, indicating overall improvement in therapeutic levels. Dosing discussions were required between the pharmacist and a physician for only 6% of intervention patients. The protocol effectively reduced overanticoagulation without increasing under anticoagulation during hospitalization and reduced the need for close physician oversight.

Oral anticoagulation in the hospital: analysis of patients at risk.

Warfarin is one of the most commonly used medications associated with adverse events. Warfarin therapy is often initiated or continued in the hospital, yet hospitalization increases the risk of poor anticoagulation control with warfarin. To help understand this, we retrospectively reviewed the records of patients admitted to our hospital during a 6-month period who were given at least one dose of warfarin. To explore factors that may have contributed to poor anticoagulation control, we compared characteristics of patients with an international normalized ratio (INR) ≥ 5 at some point during hospitalization with those of a group of matched controls who also received warfarin and had INR <5. Among the 35 patients identified who had an INR ≥ 5, concomitant use of antibiotics was more common than among 105 matched controls; improper warfarin dosing also appeared to contribute to the high INRs. These findings indicate possible targets for intervention to improve patient safety.

Antibody immunosuppressive therapy in solid organ transplant: Part II.

The use of antibodies in transplantation dates to 1986 when muromonab CD3, a monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeting CD3, was first approved for prevention and treatment of renal allograft rejection. These agents have largely been used in a brief adjunctive manner to provide immunosuppression during the initial period after solid organ transplantation or during an episode of acute rejection. Recent advances in our understanding of transplant immunology have allowed emergence of numerous new mAbs, targeting co-stimulatory signals, cell surface receptors and novel protein constructs. During the next decade, transplant professionals will increasingly require knowledge of the mechanisms and pharmacologic characteristics of these novel therapeutic agents.

Antibody immunosuppressive therapy in solid-organ transplant: Part I.

Currently, a wide variety of both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies are being routinely utilized to prevent and treat solid organ rejection. More commonly, these agents are also administered in order to delay introduction of calcineurin inhibitors, especially in patients with already compromised renal function. While these antibody therapies dramatically reduced the incidence of acute rejection episodes and improved both short and long-term graft survival, they are also associated with an increased incidence of opportunistic infections and neoplastic complications. Therefore, effective patient management must necessarily balance these risks against the potential benefits of the therapy.

Prevalence of sodium bicarbonate-induced alkalemia in cardiopulmonary arrest patients.

BACKGROUND: Intravenous sodium bicarbonate (SB) administration during cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) is intended to counteract lactic acidosis due to hypoxia, poor perfusion, and anaerobic metabolism. Despite a lack of documented efficacy and a level III recommendation from the American Heart Association, SB is widely used during resuscitation events. SB has both theoretical and measurable adverse effects. Excess or poorly timed administration during a CPA may elevate a patient's pH, inducing alkalemia. Despite decades of controversy surrounding use of this drug, the prevalence of SB-induced alkalemia has not been previously documented. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of SB-induced alkalemia in inpatients after CPA and to investigate the pattern of SB administration. METHODS: Medical records were retrospectively reviewed with attention to SB administration and arterial blood gas (ABG) data. After application of inclusion and exclusion criteria to 264 CPA patients, the study group comprised 88 patients. When measured, if PCO(2) and pH were above normal limits after SB administration, we concluded that SB contributed to the alkalemia. RESULTS: Twenty-seven (31%) patients received SB without any ABG data, and 70 (79%) patients received at least one empiric SB dose. Of the 61 patients with ABG data, alkalemia occurred in 10, a prevalence of 16%. Administration of SB increased pH in only 9 (15%) other CPA patients and had no effect in the 42 (69%) remaining patients. CONCLUSIONS: Administration of SB during CPA was causally linked with inducing alkalemia in 16% of patients. Early collection of ABG samples may assist in optimizing pH during CPA and thus reduce unwarranted empiric use of SB.