Karsen Duncan, PharmD, is a clinical pharmacist with Bryan Health. Duncan recently shared her perspective on the benefits of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). Dr. Duncan indicated she has personally seen an impact in patient outcomes as well as a reduction in time to initiate medication therapy when the PDMP is utilized.
“For example, we know much sooner a patient is on anticoagulation (in the event he/she is admitted unconscious and unable to be interviewed) and are able to reverse the anticoagulation/proceed with surgery if appropriate. The biggest impact most commonly is found in our psychiatric and epileptic patient populations. Our providers are able to look at the PDMP in the evenings and overnights and order one time doses until the pharmacy technician and pharmacist return the next day to formally review the home med list.”
Dr. Duncan also shared a patient story to reiterate the importance and value of the PDMP.
A patient was recently admitted from a group home to the hospital with a history of schizophrenia and epilepsy; the individual also had a poor recollection of medication history. The provider ordered carbamazepine 400mg BID and olanzapine 5mg TID overnight. The order was based on a medication list obtained during a previous hospital admission. Upon arrival the following morning, I was able to pull up PDMP information to confirm compliance utilizing recent pharmacy fills and dosing. Thus, the orders were verified and placed on the Medication Administration Record for the nurse to administer while inpatient. The formal home medication list was completed by the pharmacy technician/pharmacist and provider almost eight hours later. The information from the PDMP made it possible for the patient to almost immediately restart home seizure and anti-psychotic medications to prevent a potential seizure and/or agitation while inpatient.
The patient was treated for the admitting diagnosis and released two days later. Restarting accurate and vital home medications earlier in the inpatient stay is crucial in reducing the duration of hospitalization and creating a more fluid transition of care.
Visit the NEHII Web site to learn more about Nebraska’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.