Medication-Related Problems Identified Through Continuous Medication Monitoring

• Published in: Pharmacy Vol. 6; no. 3; p. 86
• Main Authors: Goedken, Amber M, Huang, Sharon, McDonough, Randal P, Deninger, Michael J, Doucette, William R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 20-08-2018; MDPI
• Subjects: Ambulatory care; Analgesics; Communication; community pharmacy; Drug stores; Drug therapy; Generic products; medication monitoring; medication-related problems; Nervous system; Patients; Pharmacists; Prescriptions; refill medication; Studies; United States > US; Iowa City Iowa; community pharmacy; refill medication; medication monitoring; medication-related problems
• ISSN: 2226-4787; 2226-4787
• DOI: 10.3390/pharmacy6030086

Community pharmacists performing Continuous Medication Monitoring (CoMM) systematically monitor each new prescription and refill dispensed for medication-related problems. The objectives for this study were to describe medication-related problems identified through CoMM and drug classes involved in problems. This 12-month pilot study used dispensing and clinical records from a single independent U.S. community pharmacy. Clinical records contain medication-related problems documented by the pharmacists. Problems identified for patients filling at least one prescription at the pharmacy and having at least one medication-related problem during the study period were included. A total of 8439 medication-related problems were identified for 1566 patients, an average of 5.4 problems per patient. Over 63% of problems were nonadherence. The drug class most often involved in problems was the central nervous system and analgesic class. Community pharmacists performing CoMM identified medication-related problems that might otherwise have gone undetected.