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HOME MEDICINES REVIEWS
When medications are taken as prescribed, they can have a very positive impact on a person’s quality of life. But, they can also have potentially serious side effects, especially when not taken as prescribed, or when numerous medications are taken together with the potential to interact with one another.
Hospital admissions associated with adverse medication events range from 5.6% of admissions in the general population to 30.4% of admissions in older Australians.
Metropolitan Pharmacy Services offers a service called a Home Medicines Review (HMR). HMRs have been proven to help ensure people living in the community receive optimum benefit from the medications they are prescribed.
HMRs must be ordered by a GP and conducted by an accredited pharmacist who makes an appointment to visit the customer in their own home.
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The pharmacist makes a home visit to discuss all the medicines a customer is taking, including complementary and other over-the-counter medicines. The pharmacist then assesses whether the medications are being taken as intended and ensures there are no unnecessary side-effects or interactions.
Once completed, the pharmacist writes a report that is sent to the customer’s GP who will then discuss the outcome of the review with their patient.
If you think you, or a loved one, might benefit from a HMR, or a less comprehensive but still useful MedsCheck within the pharmacy, please discuss this with a pharmacist from MPS. Ph 02 8514 5300
1.Burgess, C.L., Holman, C. and Satti, A. (2005) ‘Adverse drug reactions in older Australians, 1981-2002’. Medical Journal of Australia. 182(6): 267-70; Wester, K. J. Anna, K., Spigset, O., Druid, H. and Hägg, S. (2008) ‘Incidence of fatal adverse drug reactions: a population based study’. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 65(4): 573-79.