Browsing by Subject "multi-professionalism"

Medication reviews can be used to assess the appropriateness of a patient’s medication and to identify and resolve clinically significant drug-related problems. Medication reviews have been highlighted in several health and medicines policy documents as ways to improve medication safety in older adults. Collaborative practices and their development are key strategies in promoting the coordinated care of patients. Medication reviews have been previously defined from a multi-professional perspective but no definition based on multi-professional consensus has been established. The aim of this study was to harmonize the definition of medication review from a multi-professional perspective to suit various healthcare contexts in Finland. The goal was to create a shared understanding for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, information management professionals for their collaboration in reviewing medications. Furthermore, the aim was to define the tasks and responsibilities of different professional groups in collaborative medication reviews in order to support its implementation. The study was conducted as a 3-round survey using the Delphi method. The Delphi method is a qualitative consensus method based on the views of experts aiming at reaching consensus on the studied subject. The Delphi rounds were conducted as electronic surveys in September-December 2020. Expert panelists assessed the proposed definition of a collaborative medication review and the tasks and responsibilities of health care professionals involved in conducting it. The expert panel consisted of 41 participants: 12 physicians, 13 pharmacists, 10 nurses, and 6 information management professionals. The results of the study were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Consensus was reached on the definition of medication review from a multi-professional perspective, while no consensus was reached on most of the responsibilities and tasks of different healthcare professionals involved. Most challenging was to define patient groups benefiting from medication reviews and the situations in which medication reviews should be performed. Therefore, further research is needed to define the division of responsibilities between care team members, for example by defining separately the responsibilities and tasks in different healthcare contexts. This is the most comprehensive attempt taken in Finland to define medication review as a concept from a multi-professional perspective. The results of the study imply to the development and harmonizing of medication review practices and standardizing patient data documentation. The expected outcomes relate to enhanced patient and medication safety, improved coordination in medication management with integrated medication reviews.