Reducing polypharmacy through deprescribing in the emergency department

Polypharmacy, the use of multiple medications, is a prevalent issue globally that contributes to increased healthcare costs and places additional burdens on patients' organs. This study aims to deprescribe and prevent polypharmacy in the emergency department. We conducted a retrospective review of randomly selected medical records from the Internal Medicine Department of Taipei MacKay Emergency Department, spanning from August 1, 2023, to October 31, 2023. For cases identified as involving polypharmacy, pharmacists provided medication education using the Team Resource Management Polypharmacy Interview Guide, while social workers contacted patients via phone to recommend follow-up visits for deprescribing. Patients experiencing polypharmacy were significantly older than those on appropriate medication regimens (79.8 vs 67.3 years, P = .002). After deprescribing interventions, the average number of medications for polypharmacy patients was 5.9 higher than for those receiving appropriate prescriptions (9.2 vs 3.3, P = .001). The most common conditions associated with polypharmacy were diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and arrhythmia. Polypharmacy poses a significant medication management challenge, with affected patients taking an average of 6.9 more medications than those on appropriate treatment regimens. The resource management module of our team successfully reduced the incidence of polypharmacy by 8.4% in the emergency department.