Enhancing Quality of Provider Practices for Older Adults in the Emergency Department (EQUiPPED) is a multicomponent quality improvement initiative combining education, electronic clinical decision support, and individual provider feedback to influence prescribing and improve medication safety for older adults. This project was piloted at TVHS and now includes 12 facilities. This project involves 3 strategies to reduce potentially inappropriate medications (PIMS)prescribing among elderly ED patients: 1) academic detailing of ED physicians on PIMS, 2) provision of quick orders sets and preferred medications, and 3) individual benchmarked provider feedback. It has been effective in reducing prescribing of potentially inappropriate medications to older ED patients.
The PD and ED pharmacist will educate new providers on Beers Criteria and provide monthly provider-specific feedback. Continuous data monitoring will be used to modify provider specific feedback (reminders, content, academic detailing) on prescribing practice. Data collection will include the numbers of providers trained at both TVHS medical centers, total numbers of medications prescribed and percentage of PIMS prescribed to ED patients. This project is determined by the Department of Veterans Affairs as non-research and TVHS receives no funding.
VA - Health Services Research and Development Forum