Can Managed Care Manage Polypharmacy?

• Autores: Richard G. Stefanacci, Taha Khan
• Localización: Clinics in geriatric medicine, ISSN 0749-0690, Vol. 33, Nº. 2, 2017, págs. 241-255
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Polypharmacy has come to mean the inappropriate use of multiple medications. Polypharmacy can occur as a result of a range of situations, including the excessive application of clinical guidelines, lack of coordination among multiple prescribers, treating adverse drug events, misaligned medications across transitions of care, patient self-treatment, and inappropriate overtreatment. Polypharmacy is a problem because the benefits of a specific medication at the dose and frequency that an individual patient is taking are often outweighed by the costs. These costs can be financial; however, they may place a greater burden when they lead to unrealized benefits or adverse clinical effects.