Abstract
For more than 2 decades, clinicians who care for older adults have known about the concepts of high-risk and potentially inappropriate medication use. Yet, use of these medications has in many cases remained stubbornly high. In this symposium, we will explore emergent approaches to defining what constitutes high-risk and potentially inappropriate prescribing, and describe research on high-value opportunities to reduce use of these medications in vulnerable older adults. The symposium will feature 4 presentations of research in these areas by internationally-known experts on the topic from Ireland, Australia, Israel, and the United States. This will include 2 presentations on outcomes and opportunities to reduce prescribing of sedative-hypnotics, and presentations on the START-STOPP criteria and Drug Burden Index, two approaches to identifying potentially inappropriate and high-risk prescribing that have gained substantial interest in recent years. The final 30 minutes of the symposium will be devoted to a panel discussion with audience participation, where we will discuss how results of recent research inform how individual clinicians and health systems can best reduce the burden of high-risk and potentially inappropriate medications in older adults.