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The TMF Health Quality Institute has started two quality improvement projects that target potentially inappropriate medications and drug-to-drug interactions. It says these projects should reduce adverse drug events that lead to emergency department and inpatient hospitalizations of Medicare patients in Texas.
The Potentially Inappropriate Medications (PIMs) Fall Project addresses some of the causes of polypharmacy in the elderly and offers alternative drug therapies and resources to patients and physicians. TMF says two-thirds of PIMs in Texas in 2007 (narcotics, antihistamines, and skeletal muscle relaxants), cause drowsiness, sedation, and confusion, which can lead to potential falls and fractures in the elderly and direct medical costs of $6-8 billion dollars per year in the United States.
The Warfarin Drug-to-Drug Interaction (DDI) Project targets warfarin with amiodarone as a preventable drug-to-drug interaction. The project is designed to prevent and reduce both emergency department and inpatient hospitalizations that are due to adverse events attributable to the use of warfarin with other drugs in the elderly population in Texas.
Visit TMF's Part D Drug Safety Web site for additional information on articles, tools, guidelines, and other valuable no-cost information available to physicians.
For more information, contact Quality Improvement Consultant Jim Turpin at DrugSafety@tmf.org or (866) 439-5863, ext. 644.
Action, Nov. 17, 2008
Last Published: 11/17/2008 Print this page
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