Computerized Warnings Can Dramatically Reduce Use of Inappropriate Medications in Elderly Hospital Patients
Posted Aug 10 2010 2:41pm
Adverse drug events, such as dizziness or confusion occur in an estimated 40 percent of all hospital patients and can be the result of inappropriate medications being ordered. Not surprisingly, elderly individuals are particularly vulnerable to these adverse events, which not only result in longer hospitalizations, but can also pose a threat of serious complications and even death.
Now a study by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) finds that a specially programmed computer warning system can significantly reduce doctors’ orders for drugs that pose a danger to older patients. The findings are reported in the Aug. 9-23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, which appears on-line today.
“We have long known that certain commonly prescribed drugs can be harmful to older patients,” says geriatrician and lead author Melissa Mattison, MD, Associate Director of Hospital Medicine at BIDMC and Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “But because the majority of doctors have not been trained in geriatric medicine, they may not be aware of these risks. Our study found that when doctors were alerted that the drugs they were ordering could pose a danger to older hospital patients, the orders dropped almost immediately.”
Adverse drug events, such as dizziness or confusion occur in an estimated 40 percent of all hospital patients and can be the result of inappropriate medications being ordered. Not surprisingly, elderly individuals are particularly vulnerable to these adverse events, which not only result in longer hospitalizations, but can also pose a threat of serious complications and even death.
Now a study by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) finds that a specially programmed computer warning system can significantly reduce doctors’ orders for drugs that pose a danger to older patients. The findings are reported in the Aug. 9-23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, which appears on-line today.
“We have long known that certain commonly prescribed drugs can be harmful to older patients,” says geriatrician and lead author Melissa Mattison, MD, Associate Director of Hospital Medicine at BIDMC and Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “But because the majority of doctors have not been trained in geriatric medicine, they may not be aware of these risks. Our study found that when doctors were alerted that the drugs they were ordering could pose a danger to older hospital patients, the orders dropped almost immediately.”