Antiretroviral stewardship program reduces drug errors

Abstract

A program led by pharmacists at the Ohio-basedCleveland Clinic is helping HIV-infected patients receive optimal antiretroviral therapy during their hospital stay, whether the hospitalization is related to the infection or not. “With a multifaceted, multidisciplinary stewardship team, we were able to significantly reduce the rate of medication errors with anti-retroviral medications as well as significantly increase the rate of resolution for when those errors happen,” said Elizabeth Neuner, director of the postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) infectious diseases pharmacy residency program at the Cleveland Clinic. Neuner and her colleagues developed antiretroviral therapy–related interventions for 110 HIV-infected patients who had been admitted to the Cleveland Clinic from July through December 2012. The team presented its findings October 3 during the IDWeek 2013 conference in San Francisco. The interventions included educational programs for pharmacists and physicians, modification of drug profiles in the electronic prescribing system to include standard doses and dosing intervals for antiretroviral medications, and a daily review of the patients’ medication profiles by the PGY2 resident.