Photo Credit: Moussa81

Incorporating medication deprescribing initiatives reduced polypharmacy and improved cost avoidance, according to the results of a study published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. Researchers conducted a study to assess the implementation of a pharmacist-led, system-wide, deprescribing initiative in the primary care setting. The study enrolled 63 patients who underwent a medication reconciliation and discussed potential deprescribing options with their pharmacist who integrated deprescribing into their standard workload. According to the results of the study, 352 medications were deprescribed, which resulted in an annualized cost avoidance of $184,221. There researchers found a 96.7% acceptance rate of discontinuation recommendations, and 25.4% of patients were referred to pharmacist-led clinics for disease state management. The study showed embedding deprescribing into standard CPP workflow within primary care resulted in polypharmacy reduction and allowed the expansion of pharmacy-led services.