Polypharmacy App to Improve Health Outcomes: Older Adults Living in NB Nursing Homes

Goal

The primary goal of this study is to utilize a web-based application, MedReviewRx, in order to produce medication deprescribing reports that can be easily implemented and used regularly by healthcare providers. 

What is MedReviewRx?

Many older adults are taking medication that may be causing them harm or are no longer needed. Medications are often needed to treat health conditions, however, as people age the effect of certain medication changes. Taking a high number of medications, or taking certain medication increases the risk of harm. MedReviewRx works in tandem with MedSafer, which is a computer program to help improve medication use in older adults. MedSafer has been used in hospitals to identify opportunities that reduce or stop medications associated with an increased risk of harm, or medications that add little value to the well-being of the patients. 

MedReviewRx is designed to cross reference medication information from long-term care resident charts with drug information from MedSafer, with the goal of producing a deprescribing report for healthcare providers to review. The report highlights any medications that could potentially cause harm, as well as medications that could be tapered or stopped. 

Outcomes

MedReviewRx was first successfully implemented at York Care Centre with promising results, including overall positive perceptions of the deprescribing reports produced by the app. Now, MedReviewRx is entering a second round of implementation at York Care Centre, as well as entering a first round of implementation at four other New Brunswick nursing homes in different urban centres of the province.

Funding

This project is funded by the Healthy Seniors Pilot Project. The Healthy Seniors Pilot Project is a $75 million three-year agreement between the Government of New Brunswick and the Public Health Agency of Canada, jointly led by the Government of New Brunswick’s Department of Social Development and the Department of Health through the Aging Secretariat.