Dr. Sara Swathy Battar frequently observed patients transferred from acute to long-term caretaking upwards of 15-20 medications. She also discovered some Veterans often do not adhere to prescribed medication schedules due to side effects, confusion, and cost.
To improve patient safety, comfort, and medication compliance, Dr. Battar developed a methodology to help Veterans and staff identify and reduce, taper or discontinue unnecessary, ineffective, and inappropriate medications.
Many Veterans take multiple medications, especially in the later stages of life. Frequently these medications were prescribed long ago and can cause undesirable side effects, including reduced functional capacity.
This simultaneous use of multiple pharmaceuticals (known as polypharmacy) can lead to dangerous drug interactions. In many care settings, no standardized approach exists to holistically examine a patient’s complete medication profile, identify potentially inappropriate medications and determine which medications are compatible, safe, necessary and indicated.
Multiple medications increase risks
Battar is determined to make sure Veterans receive the best care, starting with reviewing the medications they take. Patients taking multiple medications can have increased risks of experiencing harmful drug effects such as allergic reactions, medication errors, and accidental overdose. Her innovative approach helps to ensure Veterans are only taking the correct medications with the right doses.
Battar teamed up with Academic Detailing Pharmacist Dr. Kimberly Dickerson and Chief of Pharmacy Tim Cmelik to create an electronic tracking system embedded into clinical profiles to capture data on deprescribed medications.
The program is called VIONE which stands for:
Vital – is this medication essential
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