$57,000 for Vic QUM pilot
August 14, 2014
THE Victorian Minister for Health
David Davis has approved $57,685
funding for a Quality Use of
Medicines pilot, working with the
Pharmacy Guild of Australia and
the Royal District Nursing Service
(RDNS), a move welcomed by both
organisations.
The project comes after a
recommendation was made by
the Health Innovation and Reform
Council to the Victorian Minister for
Health to focus on consumers with
multiple medications capable of
managing their own medications,
the Guild said.
This included helping such people
know more about quality use of
medicines and supporting GP
referrals to community pharmacists
for medication reconciliation
services, the Guild said.
The project would involve elderly
patients taking more than seven
medicines who were capable of
managing their own medications
and aimed to help them develop
health literacy in order to manage
their medications more effectively,
the Guild said.
Other details, such as how groups
would be selected, when the pilot
would start, how long it would
last, how many patients would be
involved and when results could be
expected, were still being finalised,
the Guild said.
The Victorian Department of
Health said the announcement had
been made as part of a number
of projects it was interested in
getting involved with, but since an
agreement was still being reached
as to details, no further information
was available.
Guild Victorian branch president
Anthony Tassone said with 2 to 3%
of hospital admissions medication
related and 10 to 15% in older
people thought to be medication
related, projects such as the pilot
were “vital” to improve the quality
use of medicines and reduce
preventable hospital admission and
healthcare expenditure.
“More than 50% of medication
errors occur at transitions of care,
and poor medication reconciliations
can result in unplanned hospital
readmissions.”
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