Pharmacist Involvement in an Acute Care of the Elderly Team: Impact on Appropriate Medication Use

Background Currently, our institution does not have a full-time pharmacist rounding with the inpatient acute care of the elderly (ACE) team daily. We sought to evaluate the involvement of a clinical pharmacy service within the ACE team and its impact on appropriate medication use. Objective The primary outcome was the number of drug-related problems (DRPs) and potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) detected by the pharmacist compared with no pharmacist on the ACE team. Secondary outcomes included length of stay, 30-day re-hospitalization, and accepted DRPs and PIMs recommendations made by the pharmacist. Methods This was a retrospective, single-center, cohort study. The control cohort consisted of patients seen over 3 months when no pharmacist was present. The intervention cohort comprised patients seen over 3 months when a pharmacist was present on the ACE team. Patients were excluded if there was not a documented chart note from a geriatric provider or pharmacist. Results A total of 125 patients were included in the intervention group and 106 patients in the control group. Regarding the primary outcome, the control cohort had significantly fewer identified PIMs and DRPs in comparison with the intervention cohort (P < 0.001; P < 0.01, respectively). There was no significant difference in length of stay (P = 0.317). There was a statistical difference between groups regarding 30-day readmission rates (P = 0.007). Conclusion Our study shows that the inclusion of a pharmacist on the ACE team was associated with more DRPs, and PIMs identified, creating a positive impact on patient care and 30-day readmission.