Telehealth for medication management
Ideal prescribing of medications in aged care requires a difficult balance between under- and over-prescribing. Those responsible for prescribing, dispensing and administering medicines can be assisted through reviews conducted by specialists, namely Geriatricians and Pharmacists. However, because visits by specialists are infrequent and expensive, reviews do not occur consistently or simultaneously.
The aim of this project was to test a modified existing telehealth platform to support collaboration of Geriatricians and Pharmacists in the Residential Medication Management Reviews (RMMRs) in residential aged care.
This system would improve the timeliness and efficiency of medication review allowing the specialists to review more people more promptly, including those in rural and remote communities. More appropriate prescribing among people with dementia will result in fewer symptoms, side effects and better quality of life.
Resources
Using telehealth to enable collaboration of pharmacists and geriatricians in residential medication management reviews (Conference presentation – 2018)
Publications
Hanjani, L. S., Long, D., Peel, N. M., Peeters, G., Freeman, C. R., & Hubbard, R. E. (2018). Interventions to Optimise Prescribing in Older People with Dementia: A Systematic Review. Drugs & aging, 1-21.
Freeman, C. R., Peel, N. M., Watts, J. N., Gaee-Atefi, T. A., Caffery, L. J., Hubbard, R. E., … & Gray, L. C. (2017). Development of a protocol for telehealth Residential Medication Management Reviews to enable collaboration of pharmacists and geriatricians. Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research, 47(2), 153-157.
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