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Background: Accuracy of medication charts on admission to hospital has previously shown that inadvertent omission of therapy was the most common discrepancy, accounting for 40% to 60% of errors. Partnered Pharmacist Medication Charting (PPMC) has shown to reduce medicationrelated problems. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the implementation of Pharmacist Medication Charting (PMC), a derivative of PPMC, in a maternity and gynecological hospital. The occurrence of medication omission identified by the pharmacists was assessed and the pharmacist interventions involving PMC analyzed. Methods: The pharmacist interventions documented from 1st July 2022 to 30th June, 2023 were evaluated using PowerBI for data and trends on the Medication-Related Problems (MRPs) identified, occurrence of PMC, common medications charted by the pharmacists and the pharmacist recommendation and action following the identification of MRPs. Results: A total of 4898 pharmacy interventions was documented in the 12-month period. Of the total interventions documented, 1321 (26.97%) were related to pharmacist medication charting. Of all the interventions related to PMC, 53.29% involved pharmacists charting medications for the continuation or initiation of over-the-counter medications, 13.32% involved pharmacist partnered charting of Prescription Only Medications and Controlled Medications with medical staff, and 33.3% were referred to a credentialled pharmacist for PMC service. With regards to action taken following interventions involving PMC, 1065 (80.62%) were resolved following PMC. Common medications charted by the pharmacists include: macrogol and docusate laxatives (288), pregnancy multivitamin containing iron, iodine and folate (169), colecalciferol (133), iron (127), asthma inhaler (99), paracetamol and ibuprofen (88), nicotine (38), calcium (29), folic acid (26), and pantoprazole (15). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that hospital pharmacists contribute to the reduction of MRPs, and PMC enables pharmacist to address prescribing omission and conditions untreated in the hospital. This study also reflects skills enhancement in practice for clinical pharmacists and resulted in successful implementation of PMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective was to establish and test a machine learning‐based screening process that would be applicable to systematic reviews in pharmaceutical sciences. We used the SPIDER (Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research type) model, a broad search strategy, and a machine learning tool (Research Screener) to identify relevant references related to y‐site compatibility of 95 intravenous drugs used in neonatal intensive care settings. Two independent reviewers conducted pilot studies, including manual screening and evaluation of Research Screener, and used the kappa‐coefficient for inter‐reviewer reliability. After initial deduplication of the search strategy results, 27 597 references were available for screening. Research Screener excluded 1735 references, including 451 duplicate titles and 1269 reports with no abstract/title, which were manually screened. The remainder (25 862) were subject to the machine learning screening process. All eligible articles for the systematic review were extracted from <10% of the references available for screening. Moderate inter‐reviewer reliability was achieved, with kappa‐coefficient ≥0.75. Overall, 324 references were subject to full‐text reading and 118 were deemed relevant for the systematic review. Our study showed that a broad search strategy to optimize the literature captured for systematic reviews can be efficiently screened by the semi‐automated machine learning tool, Research Screener. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous review in the study hospital showed that the pain management following discharge from the Day Surgery Unit (DSU) was inadequate with 6% of patients discharged home with pain medicines. The aim of this audit was to assess the efficacy of the new DSU discharge medication system for patients following day laparoscopy procedures. Pain control following the procedure and patient satisfaction with pain management were also assessed. A total of 100 patients who underwent a day case laparoscopy procedure at the study hospital from 12 June 2018 to 23 April 2019 were included in the study. Patient medical records, anaesthetic and recovery charts were reviewed. Analgesic requirements and pain scores in theatre, recovery, DSU and on discharge were documented. Patients were followed‐up by phone interview on analgesic use in the 24 h post discharge, and on patient satisfaction with postoperative pain management. At discharge from the DSU, 88 (88%) patients were supplied analgesics and medicine information leaflets. In the 24 h postoperative phone follow‐up, 63 (78.7%) patients indicated they were not in severe pain. Of the 53 patients who reported moderate (n = 36) to severe (n = 17) pain, 47 (88.7%) used analgesics at home. The common analgesics used after discharge were paracetamol (68.8%), tramadol (51.3%), ibuprofen (40%) and celecoxib (25%), Patient satisfaction with pain management in the 24 h post discharge was (69) 86.3%. The new discharge process has improved the supply of analgesic medication and medication information for patients following a day laparoscopy procedure. Patients reported great satisfaction with pain management in the hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the physical and chemical compatibility of pentoxifylline (PTX) with a wide range of parenteral medications used in the neonatal intensive care setting.Design: PTX and drug solutions were combined in glass phials and inspected visually for physical incompatibility. The chemical compatibility was evaluated on the basis of PTX concentrations.Results: Precipitation, colour change or turbidity was not visible in any of the test mixtures, indicating no observed physical incompatibility or apparent risk of blockage in narrow-bore intravenous tubing. The PTX concentration was approximately 2.5% and 4.5% lower when combined with dopamine and amoxicillin, respectively. The PTX concentration ratios for all other combinations were in the range of 99%-102%.Conclusion: In simulated Y-site conditions, physical compatibility testing of PTX and 30 parenteral medications revealed no evidence of precipitation. Based on PTX concentration tests, it could be prudent to avoid mixing PTX with dopamine or amoxicillin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the physical and chemical compatibility of pentoxifylline (PTX) with a range of parenteral medications used in neonatal intensive care.Design: PTX and drug solutions were combined in glass vials, inspected for physical incompatibility and evaluated on the basis of PTX concentrations for chemical compatibility.Results: No precipitation, colour change or turbidity was observed in any of the test mixtures. The PTX concentration was approximately 5.5% lower when combined with undiluted calcium gluconate injection (100 mg/mL). The PTX concentration ratios for all other combinations, including diluted calcium gluconate injection (50 mg/mL), were in the range of 99.5%-102%.Conclusion: In simulated Y-site conditions, PTX was found to be compatible with 15 parenteral medications and six total parenteral nutrition solutions. Based on PTX concentration tests, it would be prudent to avoid mixing PTX with undiluted calcium gluconate injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Drug and Therapeutics Committees (DTCs) in each hospital are responsible for achieving effective medicines governance, equity of medicines access and quality use of medicines to underpin patient's therapy. An increasing understanding of the pathophysiology of complex diseases has contributed to the explosion in availability of newer medications in recent years. The assessment of medication treatments has become an increasingly onerous workload for DTCs, reflecting the increase in newer medications often used for novel indications. [Extracted from the article]