Adverse Drug Event Prevention and Detection in Older Emergency Department Patients

Avoiding ADEs has become a national health priority identified as having a substantial impact on health outcomes and health care costs, and the presence of multimorbidity, changes in physiologic function, and polypharmacy make older adults more vulnerable to medication-related ADEs. Criteria used to identify PIM are not meant to replace clinical judgment; rather, they are designed to create educational guidelines. The decision to prescribe any medication, the choice of medication, and the way it is pre-scribed are all factors that are under the control of the provider as not all PIM can or should be avoided. Therefore, prescribing decisions must be individualized based on medical, functional, and social conditions; quality-o-life; and prognosis, and should involve shared decision-making.