Table 3.
The interventions recommended, and actions taken, in cases of contraindicated prescribing
| Description of interventions recommended by pharmacists | No (%) of interventions (n = 804) | Description of actions taken by pharmacists and practice staff | No (%) of actions (n = 512) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recommend review contraindicated medication | 337 (42) | Contraindicated medication reviewed | 175 (34) |
| Review, stop or wean β-blocker, or change to bisoprolol | 279 (35) | β-Blocker stopped or weaned off | 68 (13) |
| β-Blocker to be reviewed | 36 (7) | ||
| β-Blocker changed to bisoprolol | 23 (4) | ||
| Contact consultant to query β-blocker | 19 (2) | β-Blocker queried with consultant | 15 (3) |
| Stop NSAID or combined oral contraceptive | 39 (5) | NSAID or combined oral contraceptive stopped | 29 (6) |
| Other | 4 (1) | ||
| Recommend monitoring | 188 (23) | Monitoring need accepted | 95 (19) |
| Recommend asthma monitoring | 179 (22) | Asthma review booked | 68 (13) |
| Recommend other monitoring (blood pressure or medication reviews) | 9 (1) | Other monitoring completed (blood pressure or medication review) | 27 (5) |
| Recommend amend patient's medical record | 106 (13) | Patient's medical record amended | 100 (20) |
| Correct coding error | 66 (8) | Correct coding error | 69 (13) |
| Add codes (e.g. blood test result, asthma resolved to history or diagnosis detail to problem screen) | 24 (3) | Add codes (e.g. blood test) | 14 (3) |
| Request confirmation of diagnosis | 20 (2) | Diagnosis confirmed | 13 (3) |
| Recommend add screen messages to medical record as reminders | 59 (7) | Screen messages added to medical record | 107 (21) |
| Add screen message advising avoid NSAIDs | 25 (3) | Screen message added advising avoid NSAIDs | 29 (6) |
| Add screen message reminding to monitor asthma with β-blocker | 23 (3) | Screen message added reminding to monitor asthma with β-blocker | 46 (9) |
| Add other screen messages | 11 (1) | Other screen messages added | 32 (6) |
| Recommend patient counselling | 54 (7) | Patient counselling completed | 18 (4) |
| Counsel patient regarding risks of taking medication | 54 (7) | Patient counselled regarding risks of taking medication | 18 (4) |
| Recommend review protective medication | 33 (4) | Protective medication reviewed | 12 (2) |
| Add proton-pump inhibitor | 29 (4) | Add proton-pump inhibitor | 11 (2) |
| Other | 4 (0) | Other | 1 (0) |
| Recommend other changes (not directly related to the indicator) | 27 (3) | Other changes made (not directly related to the indicator) | 5 (1) |
NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.