Hugo Robays

Impact of computerized physician order entry on medication prescription errors in the intensive care unit: a controlled cross-sectional trial

IntroductionMedication errors in the intensive care unit (ICU) are frequent and lead to attributable patient morbidity and mortality, increased length of ICU stay and substantial extra costs. We investigated if the introduction of a computerized ICU system (Centricity Critical Care Clinisoft, GE Healthcare) reduced the incidence and severity of medication prescription errors (MPEs).MethodsA prospective trial was conducted in a paper-based unit (PB-U) versus a computerized unit (C-U) in a 22-bed ICU of a tertiary university hospital. Every medication order and medication prescription error was validated by a clinical pharmacist. The registration of different classes of MPE was done according to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention guidelines. An independent panel evaluated the severity of MPEs. We identified three groups: minor MPEs (no potential to cause harm); intercepted MPEs (potential to cause harm but intercepted on time); and serious MPEs (non-intercepted potential adverse drug events (ADE) or ADEs, being MPEs with potential to cause, or actually causing, patient harm).ResultsThe C-U and the PB-U each contained 80 patient-days, and a total of 2,510 medication prescriptions were evaluated. The clinical pharmacist identified 375 MPEs. The incidence of MPEs was significantly lower in the C-U compared with the PB-U (44/1286 (3.4%) versus 331/1224 (27.0%); P < 0.001). There were significantly less minor MPEs in the C-U than in the PB-U (9 versus 225; P < 0.001). Intercepted MPEs were also lower in the C-U (12 versus 46; P < 0.001), as well as the non-intercepted potential ADEs (21 versus 48; P < 0.001). There was also a reduction of ADEs (2 in the C-U versus 12 in the PB-U; P < 0.01). No fatal errors occurred. The most frequent drug classes involved were cardiovascular medication and antibiotics in both groups. Patients with renal failure experienced less dosing errors in the C-U versus the PB-U (12 versus 35 serious MPEs; P < 0.001).ConclusionThe ICU computerization, including the medication order entry, resulted in a significant decrease in the occurrence and severity of medication errors in the ICU.

Augmented renal clearance is a common finding with worse clinical outcome in critically ill patients receiving antimicrobial therapy

INTRODUCTION We describe incidence and patient factors associated with augmented renal clearance (ARC) in adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS A prospective observational study in a mixed cohort of surgical and medical ICU patients receiving antimicrobial therapy at the Ghent University Hospital, Belgium. Kidney function was assessed by the 24-hour creatinine clearance (Ccr); ARC defined as at least one Ccr of >130 mL/min per 1.73 m2. Multivariate logistic regression analysis: to assess variables associated with ARC occurrence. Therapeutic failure (TF): an impaired clinical response and need for alternate antimicrobial therapy. RESULTS Of the 128 patients and 599 studied treatment days, ARC was present in 51.6% of the patients. Twelve percent permanently expressed ARC. ARC patients had a median Ccr of 144 mL/min per 1.73 m2 (IQR 98-196). Median serum creatinine concentration on the first day of ARC was 0.54 mg/dL (IQR 0.48-0.69). Patients with ARC were significantly younger (P<.001). Age and male gender were independently associated with ARC whereas the APACHE II score was not. ARC patients had more TF (18 (27.3%) vs. 8 (12.9%); P=.04). CONCLUSION ARC was documented in approximately 52% of a mixed ICU patient population receiving antibiotic treatment with worse clinical outcome. Young age and male gender were independently associated with ARC presence.

How to protect environment and employees against cytotoxic agents, the UZ Ghent experience

Objective. To compare two different systems for the reconstitution and preparation of cytotoxic drug-containing infusion bags. The Classical System (open) uses Luer lock syringes and needles, and the PhaSealA System (closed) uses special devices. Methods. Both wipe samples of the Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC) plus surroundings and urine analysis of technicians and pharmacists involved in the preparatory activities were used. Analyses were performed using gas chromatography in tandem with mass spectroscopy. Results. An important difference has been found in the surface contamination rate and in the number, periods and values of contaminated urine samples in favour of the closed PhaSealA System. J Oncol Pharm Practice (2001) 6, 146-152.

Infection risk related to the use of medicinal leeches

ObjectiveTo assess the incidence of postoperative wound infections related to treatment with medicinal leeches at Ghent University Hospital.MethodA 2-year retrospective analysis of bacteriologic culture results of soft tissue infections in patients treated with medicinal leeches.ResultsCultures of suspected wound infections were taken and susceptibility testing of isolates was performed on 17 of 47 patients (36.2%). Aeromonas was frequently isolated (18.5%).ConclusionsA high incidence of infection during and after application of medicinal leeches, despite their external decontamination, necessitates an antibiotic prophylaxis. In particular Aeromonas must be covered, as soft tissue infections with these bacteria can give serious complications. The prophylactic antibiotic should cover the most frequent isolated species taking into account the importance of Aeromonas and the susceptibility pattern. Based on the results, fluoroquinolones seem to be a good choice. The authors believe that practical recommendations to hospital pharmacists on prophylaxis during Hirudo medicinalis treatment, might enhance the safety of it’s use by reducing the number of infections.

Evaluation of clinical pharmacist recommendations in the geriatric ward of a Belgian university hospital

Objective To evaluate the type, acceptance rate, and clinical relevance of clinical pharmacist recommendations at the geriatric ward of the Ghent university hospital. Methods The clinical pharmacist evaluated drug use during a weekly 2-hour visit for a period of 4 months and, if needed, made recommendations to the prescribing physician. The recommendations were classified according to type, acceptance by the physician, prescribed medication, and underlying drug-related problem. Appropriateness of prescribing was assessed using the Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI) before and after the recommendations were made. Two clinical pharmacologists and two clinical pharmacists independently and retrospectively evaluated the clinical relevance of the recommendations and rated their own acceptance of them. Results The clinical pharmacist recommended 304 drug therapy changes for 100 patients taking a total of 1137 drugs. The most common underlying drug-related problems concerned incorrect dose, drug–drug interaction, and adverse drug reaction, which appeared most frequently for cardiovascular drugs, drugs for the central nervous system, and drugs for the gastrointestinal tract. The most common type of recommendation concerned adapting the dose, and stopping or changing a drug. In total, 59.7% of the recommendations were accepted by the treating physician. The acceptance rate by the evaluators ranged between 92.4% and 97.0%. The mean clinical relevance of the recommendations was assessed as possibly important (53.4%), possibly low relevance (38.1%), and possibly very important (4.2%). A low interrater agreement concerning clinical relevance between the evaluators was found: kappa values ranged between 0.15 and 0.25. Summated MAI scores significantly improved after the pharmacist recommendations, with mean values decreasing from 9.3 to 6.2 (P < 0.001). Conclusion In this study, the clinical pharmacist identified a high number of potential drug-related problems in older patients; however, the acceptance of the pharmacotherapy recommendations by the treating physician was lower than by a panel of evaluators. This panel, however, rated most recommendations as possibly important and as possibly having low relevance, with low interrater reliability. As the appropriateness of prescribing seemed to improve with decreased MAI scores, clinical pharmacy services may contribute to the optimization of drug therapy in older inpatients.

Interaction between methotrexate and omeprazole in an adolescent with leukemia: a case report

We present a case of severe mucositis due to a drug–drug interaction between methotrexate (MTX) and omeprazole in an adolescent with Acute Lymphatic Leukemia (ALL). In view of the prevalence of MTX in many cytotoxic protocols, and the frequent use of omeprazole in the (ambulatory) oncology setting, we believe that this case-report is worth mentioning.

Prospective multicentre feasibility study of a quality of care indicator for intravenous to oral switch therapy with highly bioavailable antibiotics

BACKGROUND Enhanced oral (po) bioavailability of antimicrobial drugs allows conversion to po therapy once a patient meets defined clinical criteria. This can reduce length of hospital stay, healthcare costs and risk of complications related to intravenous (iv) access. We developed a quality indicator for assessing the appropriate iv-to-po switch of bioavailable antibiotics and evaluated its feasibility and clinical relevance across acute healthcare systems. METHODS The study was designed as a multicentre, multinational observational audit. The indicator was the proportion of inappropriate iv treatments at any point in time in adult patients treated with fluoroquinolones, clindamycin, linezolid or metronidazole. Treatments were prospectively evaluated by a trained physician or clinical pharmacist using predefined clinical criteria. The feasibility of the indicator was evaluated by measuring data availability, data collection workload and sensitivity to improvement RESULTS Data were collected over a 3 month period in five university hospitals in Austria, Belgium and Germany and iv treatment was assessed in 211 patients. The indicator was measurable in 99.1% of cases. By intention-to-treat analysis, 37.0% (95% CI 30.5-43.9) of treatments were inappropriate, ranging from 17.5% to 53.8% across hospitals. The median time needed for case assessment and documentation was 29 min. CONCLUSIONS This quality indicator was found to be generally feasible in hospitals across three European countries, and informative about the local need for clinical quality improvement.

Applicability of an adapted medication appropriateness index for detection of drug-related problems in geriatric inpatients.

BACKGROUND High drug consumption by older patients and the presence of many drug-related problems require careful assessment of drug therapy, for which a structured approach is recommended. OBJECTIVE The purpose of our study was to evaluate the applicability of an adapted version of the Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI) in 50 geriatric inpatients at the time of admission. METHODS We reviewed, for 432 prescribed drugs, indication, right choice, dosage, directions, drug-disease interactions, drug-drug interactions, and duration of therapy. In addition, adverse drug reactions were evaluated, resulting in 8 questions per drug. MAI scores were attributed independently by a geriatrician and by a clinical pharmacist, and differences between them were assessed. Furthermore, the relationship between MAI score and drug-related hospital admission was explored. RESULTS Mean summed MAI scores of 13.7 according to the geriatrician and 13.6 according to the pharmacist were obtained. The highest scores were found for drugs for the central nervous and the urinary tract system; the highest scores per question were detected for right choice, adverse drug reactions, and drug-drug interactions. A good agreement between the scores of the geriatrician and the pharmacist was found: intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.91 and overall κ value was 0.71. A significantly higher MAI score was found for drug-related hospital admissions (P = 0.04 for the geriatrician and P = 0.03 for the pharmacist). CONCLUSIONS This adapted MAI score seems useful for detection of drug-related problems in geriatric inpatients and reliable with a low inter-rater variability and positive correlation between high score and drug-related hospital admission. We consider further application of the adapted MAI for teaching and training of clinical pharmacists, and as a systematic approach for detection of drug-related problems by the clinical pharmacists in our hospital.

Development and validation of potential structure indicators for evaluating antimicrobial stewardship programmes in European hospitals.

This study describes the development of structure indicators for hospital antimicrobial stewardship programmes and pilot validation across European hospitals. A multi-disciplinary panel from four European countries developed structure indicators in three steps: identification and listing of indicators, remote ranking of indicators using multi-criteria scoring, selection of indicators in a face-to-face consensus meeting. Additionally, the top-ten indicators were identified as a minimal set of key indicators. A survey was sent to the directors of antimicrobial stewardship programmes in European hospitals. The yes/no answers for the indicators were transformed into numbers in order to calculate the total scores. A list of 58 indicators was selected and categorised into the following topics: antimicrobial stewardship services (12 items), tools (16 items), human resources and mandate (6 items), health care personnel development (4 items), basic diagnostic capabilities (6 items), microbiological rapid tests (2 items), evaluation of microbiological drug resistance data (3 items), antibiotic consumption control (5 items) and drug use monitoring (4 items). The indicator scores, reported by 11 pilot hospitals from five European countries, ranged from 32 to 50 (maximum score = 58) and from 5 to 10 points (maximum score = 10) for, respectively, the complete and the top-ten list. An international panel selected 58 potential structure indicators, among which was a minimal set of ten key structure indicators, that could be useful for assessment of the comprehensiveness and resource-intensity of antimicrobial stewardship programmes. There was significant heterogeneity among participating centres with regard to their score for structural components of effective antimicrobial stewardship.

Pricing and reimbursement of pharmaceuticals in Belgium.

SummaryThe Belgian healthcare system has a tradition of access and equity at affordable prices. As in other countries, the system becomes pressured by increasing healthcare costs. This paper describes the actual situation in Belgium with special focus on pharmaceutical products and the potential role of pharmacoeconomics in decision making on price and reimbursement.Nearly all people in Belgium are covered by compulsory health insurance. The system is paid for by social security. the patients and the federal and regional authorities. The part of the consumption of pharmaceuticals that is charged to insurance was about 62.1 billion Belgian francs (BeF), i.e. about 50% of the pharmaceutical market in 1994.Price setting in Belgium has been rather low due to the positive reimbursement list. where the price of a new drug is compared to existing drugs in a comparable therapeutic class (so-called reimbursement criteria).The expenditure on pharmaceuticals is increasing faster than global funding for public health. In order to control drug budgets. different cost-containment measures have been or are being taken. i.e. a mix of price, reimbursement and volume controls. These cost-containment measures are not necessarily in accordance with a health economic approach.This paper suggests the scope for better implementation of pharmacoeconomic Evaluation, which can lead to more flexible reimbursement systems in specific indications. Therefore. a formal recognition of the role of objective economic evaluations is needed for both hospital and ambulatory care. This process should be proceeded by improving the understanding and robustness of pharmacoeconomic evaluations.