The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists released five prescribing recommendations to optimize medication use in both ambulatory and acute care settings.
ASHP's recommendations were released in conjunction with the American Board of Internal Medicine's Choosing Wisely campaign. The campaign is designed to improve patient and clinician communication to reduce adverse events and improve outcomes.
Here are ASHP's five recommendations.
1. Do not prescribe medications to treat symptoms, adverse events or side effects without first determining if the underlying cause of the health issue is the result of an existing therapy.
2. Do not prescribe new medications to patients taking five or more drugs without conducting a comprehensive review of the patient's current drug and supplement intake.
3. Do not prescribe patients drug therapies at discharge that they were taking before admission without confirming these medications are still necessary.\
4. Do not continually prescribe drugs based solely on the medication history.
5. Do not use a teaspoon or tablespoon measurements when prescribing oral medications. Use milliliters as a measure instead.
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