Drug diversion, a series: How to prevent and spot it
By
Norris Cunningham
Angela Rinehart
Jul 19, 2021
Drug diversion occurs when prescription medicines are obtained or used illegally. While diversion has always been a concern, without question, COVID-19 certainly increased personal stress and pressure...
Tapping genetic information to support medication management and resident health
By
Houda Hachad
Oct 27, 2022
Medication management has long been a top focus for long-term care organizations, given the challenges related to comorbidities and polypharmacy that residents often face. Studies show that the overwhelming...
3 strategies for improved medication management communications in SNFs
By
Anne Tumlinson
Mar 17, 2014
One area where many SNFs have room to improve is medication management. Optimizing medication management services during care transitions will position SNFs as high-value partners in the preferred referral...
Medication management tied to hospitalizations
By
David Siegelman
Nov 12, 2014
Plans are being put into place that will also penalize the skilled nursing facility for avoidable readmissions. As such, to distinguish oneself as a desirable downstream provider, one must effectively...
Time to increase your dose of overprescribing education
By
Sep 19, 2017
It turns out seniors who might be victims of overprescribing recognize it an issue all too well, according to new research.
Drug diversion, a series: How to deal with it
By
Norris Cunningham
Angela Rinehart
John Myers
Aug 23, 2021
In the first part of this series, we discussed drug diversion: what it is, how to prevent it and how to spot it. This column will focus on how to conduct drug diversion investigations. When drug...
Drug reduction may be all the rage, but it shouldn’t be outrageous
By
Steven Levenson
Jul 10, 2023
In recent years, there has been much talk about drug reduction in nursing homes. We hear about “GDR meetings” and even a new verb, as in “We are ‘GDRing’ our residents’ medications.” ...
Five deprescribing strategies for reducing the risks of polypharmacy
By
Monica Ott
Nov 07, 2023
Medication management in nursing homes is complicated and time consuming. It can also be fraught with risks. Most nursing home residents take more than five medications daily, which makes them particularly...
How pharmacy providers can impact patient care
By
Lindsay Dymowski
Aug 22, 2022
When a person seeks medical care, a team impacts that care. Primary care teams, home care groups, and even medical transportation companies play a role in patients’ health outcomes. One of the...
When less is more: The role of deprescribing and art of medication management
By
Kurt Merkelz, M.D.
Jul 28, 2021
More prescriptions do not necessarily mean better health outcomes. Deprescribing, which is the planned and supervised process of intentionally stopping a medication or reducing its dose, is a critically...