American journal of health-system pharmacy : AJHP : official journal of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
-
Am J Health Syst Pharm · Jul 2020
ReviewTowards precision medicine: Therapeutic drug monitoring-guided dosing of vancomycin and β-lactam antibiotics to maximize effectiveness and minimize toxicity.
The goal of this review is to explore the role of antimicrobial therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), especially in critically ill, obese, and older adults, with a specific focus on β-lactams and vancomycin. ⋯ Precision dosing through TDM is expanding and is especially important in populations with altered PK/PD, including critically ill, obese, and older adults. Due to wide PK/PD variability in these populations, TDM is vital to maximize antimicrobial effectiveness and decrease adverse event rates. However, there is still a need for studies connecting TDM to patient outcomes. Providing patient-specific care through β-lactam TDM and transitioning to vancomycin AUC/MIC monitoring may be challenging, but with experts at the forefront of this initiative, PK-based optimization of antimicrobial therapy can be achieved.
-
Am J Health Syst Pharm · Jun 2020
Evaluation of a multidisciplinary approach to reduce internal medicine readmissions using a readmission prediction index.
Readmission prediction indices are used to stratify patients by the risk of hospital readmission. We describe the integration of a 30-day hospital readmission prediction index into the electronic medical record (EMR) and its impact on pharmacist interventions during transitions of care (TOC). ⋯ A multidisciplinary TOC team approach did not reduce the 30-day readmission rate on an internal medicine service. However, patients who received additional direct pharmacist interventions guided by a readmission prediction index had a reduced readmission rate.