Improving Prescribing Patterns for the Elderly Through an Online Drug Utilization Review Intervention. Americans over the age of 65 account for 12 percent of the population. However, this group uses over 30 percent of all prescription drugs. Older individuals have altered physiologic states which complicate matters making it difficult to achieve appropriate dosages of drugs. Each year between five percent and 35 percent of elderly individuals have an ADE and these events may result in hospitalization, can require additional medications, may increase disability, and may even lead to death.
Inappropriate drug prescribing occurs with approximately one-fourth of all elderly.
Computer alerts of potential drug problems generated telephone calls to physicians by pharmacists who had training in geriatrics. The authors suggest results indicate that it is possible to track prescriptions and intervene on inappropriate drugs and dosages before the medication ever reaches the patient. Pyle, Marsha A., Michelle Massie, and Suchitra Nelson. Providing oral care to long term care residents is a complicated issue. Access to oral care is often limited and many factors determine what kind and how much oral care can be given to a particular resident.