gms | German Medical Science

Background: Ongoing medicinal therapies of patients are frequently modified at hospital admission and discharge or subsequent treatment by general practitioners – in some cases planned, in others unplanned. A structured and uniform communication channel concerning drug therapy has not been established yet between the physicians in charge, patients and pharmacists. A consistent medication plan that is accepted by all participants in the treatment involved, electronically available and thoroughly applied can help to ensure safer therapy [1]. Patients can only benefit from this medication plan, when it is kept up-to-date and complete and cooperation between physicians and pharmacists is maintained [2]. Beginning in October 2016, every patient in Germany who receives three or more regular drugs is entitled to receive a medication plan, at least a paper-based version.

Materials and Methods: The study will be conducted in cooperation with 12 general practitioners and 14 pharmacies in the area of Erfurt. Patients taking more than three pharmaceuticals on a regular basis are included in this prospective cohort study either by their general practitioner or by the HELIOS Klinikum Erfurt. They receive a standardised medication plan (specification 2.0, updated on Dec 15th, 2014) as a hard copy with a 2D barcode [1]. During an observation period of 12 months, this medication plan is to be presented at each physician or pharmacist appointment and read by a barcode scanner. In case of adaptions in drug therapy a new medication plan has to be printed out for the patient. All changes will be encrypted and documented in a SQL database. Patients and participating physicians and pharmacists will participate in a project-specific survey to assess acceptability and feasibility of the medication plan. Contentment and self-reported adherence of patients will be evaluated with the help of standardised questionnaires.

Results: The vote of the ethics committee of the chamber of physicans of Thuringia has been obtained. Currently, 80 patients with an average age of 68 years are included in the study. In the course of two months patients were given 3.5 medication plans containing 9 different pharmaceuticals on average. First results show a positive feedback by patients, physicians and pharmacists regarding the medication plan, even though specification 2.0 shows room for improvement. Frequently discussed aspects are the column sequence, the description of agents and their strength on the medication plan.

This study is supported by the German Ministry of Health, Kapitel 1502, Titel 68605