Analysis of Real-World Experiences with the Ontario MedsCheck Program.

Ashley Graham, William Bartle, Patti Madorin, Vincent Teo, Artemis Diamantouros

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Article in The Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Ashley Graham, PharmD, ACPR, was, at the time of this study, a pharmacy resident at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario. She is now with Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario.

William Bartle, BScPhm, PharmD, FCSHP, is with the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario.

Patti Madorin, BScPhm, ACPR, is with the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario.

Vincent Teo, BScPhm, PharmD, ACPR, is with the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario.

Artemis Diamantouros, BScPhm, MEd, PhD (deceased), was with the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Ontario MedsCheck program was introduced in April 2007, with enhancements to strengthen the program made in October 2016. Previous literature has characterized patients who received the service before the enhancements and described the experiences of community pharmacists and physicians, but the experiences of participants in the enhanced MedsCheck program and those of hospital pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have not been explored.

objectivesThis study was designed to describe and compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients admitted to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (SHSC) who had received a MedsCheck before and after the program enhancements of 2016. The study also aimed to describe the experiences of patients, hospital pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians with the MedsCheck program.

methodsChart reviews were completed to identify and characterize patients who had received a MedsCheck and were admitted to SHSC between March and May 2016 (retrospective cohort) and between March and May 2017 (prospective cohort). Patients were interviewed and focus groups were conducted with pharmacy staff to explore their experiences with the MedsCheck program.

resultsMedsChecks had been performed for 321 (14.5%) of 2216 patients in the retrospective cohort and 172 (6.8%) of 2547 patients in the prospective cohort, an absolute decline of 7.7% after the 2016 enhancements. Patient characteristics were similar between the 2 cohorts. Patients' experiences were varied, but because of low enrolment in the interview process (

conclusionsPatient interviews revealed the features of the program that patients valued. Pharmacy staff identified several benefits and barriers encountered when using MedsChecks. These findings can guide clinicians in optimal application of the current MedsCheck program and can inform subsequent program revisions.

Indexed as

community pharmacy serviceshospital pharmaceutical servicesmedication reviewMedsCheckpatient preference

Identifiers

PMID31452541

PMCPMC6699860

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.