Detecting, Treating and Preventing Drug-Related Morbidity

2007 Team Start-up Award

An Emergency Department Based Medication Optimization Program

In Canada, 7.5 per cent of hospital admissions are complicated by an adverse event related to medical care that leads to death, disability, or a prolonged hospital stay. Adverse drug related events (ADREs) represent the most common cause of preventable non-surgical adverse events, with up to 130,000 patients in British Columbia (BC) presenting to Emergency Departments with a symptomatic ADRE. However, there are currently no efficient screening strategies for ADREs. This team is working to develop and evaluate a clinically effective, resource-efficient screening strategy. Once the strategy has been proven effective in an Emergency Department setting, the team aims to adapt it for use in community-based practice, and determine its cost effectiveness in comparison to the current standard of care.

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