MERIS

Medication reviews are systematic and critical reviews of the patient’s medicine treatment with the aim of optimising it based on patient-oriented and rational pharmacotherapeutic assessments.

Clinical pharmacists currently perform medication reviews in a number of departments at Odense University Hospital. Determining which patients receive a medication review is often more or less random. Sometimes a practitioner refers a patient, sometimes the clinical pharmacists screen admission lists in EHR (electronic health records) and sometimes there is no screening at all.

Aim

The MERIS algorithm, which was based on EHR data, was a validated and evidence-based tool developed to identify patients in high risk of receiving unsuitable medication through medication reviews. The project’s aim was to test and implement MERIS in the clinical pharmacists’ work in the departments at Odense University Hospital that have an agreement on medication reviews.

The aim of the algorithm was to make the screening process more systematic, leading to more targeted medication reviews for the benefit of the patients. The project also intended to examine the opportunity to expand and offer MERIS as well as medication reviews in all of Odense University Hospital’s departments. The project also examined whether MERIS could be used to prioritise other interventions such as medical history or pharmaceutical discharge interviews.

Participants

Hospital Pharmacy, Odense University Hospital

Funding

The Innovation Fund at Odense University Hospital.

Nine departments across Odense University Hospital conducted medication reviews, as did the Psychiatric Services in the Region of Southern Denmark.