Impact of an Educational Deprescribing Intervention on Provider Confidence, Knowledge and Polypharmacy in the Nursing Home Setting

Polypharmacy is commonly encountered by providers caring for patients with medically complex and palliative care needs in many settings. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to measure the impact of an evidence-based educational deprescribing intervention on polypharmacy rate and provider confidence and knowledge in the nursing home. We invited providers working in 52 nursing homes to attend a 1-hour-long educational deprescribing session. Twenty-one nurse practitioners and 1 physician assistant across 11 states participated in the intervention. Provider confidence level related to deprescribing improved in all categories, with statistical significance demonstrated with both paired t test and Wilcoxon signed rank test ( P < .001). The polypharmacy rate 3 months after the intervention decreased more in centers where a provider had attended the training. Additional open-ended data about experiences with and barriers to deprescribing were collected and analyzed. The findings from this quality improvement project demonstrate that an educational intervention focused on providers practicing in the nursing home setting can improve deprescribing confidence and reduce polypharmacy rates. These findings may be used to implement similar deprescribing education programs for palliative care nurses and providers that prioritize goals of care for patients living with serious illness.