in content lists or on the content page.Performed by professionals in several fields, a comprehensive evaluation of medical therapy promotes appropriate and efficacious use of pharmaceuticals. Lowering the effective doses of medication improves the patient’s quality of life and ability to cope, also generating savings in medication expenses. In public health care, comprehensive evaluation of medical therapy allows for more efficient management of human resources and professional capabilities.
A total of 50 patients were evaluated in terms of their medication expenses, ability to cope, and quality of life in the experimental OLKA project*, which seeks to determine optimal medical treatment through comprehensive evaluation. These patients were evaluated for the second time three months after they had implemented the suggested changes to their medications. In total, the project team carried out 607 evaluations and made 304 suggestions for prescription changes or adjustments.
More than half of the patients felt that their condition had improved or a problem related to medication had disappeared as a result of the evaluation program. Even though their medication was reduced or changed, 63 per cent of the patients felt that their condition had not worsened. As many as 90 per cent benefited financially from the evaluation: the reimbursement from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) fell by 14.1 per cent, but the patients’ share of the total cost fell by 22 per cent, on average.
Comprehensive evaluation of medical therapy is based on enhanced multiprofessional cooperation among pharmacies, doctors, and health care personnel at the local level. By targeting medical treatment more carefully, it is possible to identify and correct unnecessarily large dosages and to eliminate harmful combined effects. Comprehensive evaluation also seeks to increase patients’ feelings of safety and awareness of their medication.
“Comprehensive evaluation of appropriate medical therapy is particularly beneficial for older people, those suffering from multiple illnesses, and those with multiple prescriptions. This helps us determine the optimal medication for our clients, and we will also be better able to control the rising medication expenses in our society,” says pharmacist Terttu Puurunen of the Hyrynsalmi Pharmacy, who served as the project coordinator. “Finland has excellent pharmaceutical expertise, and we will now be able to take even better care of our clients.”
Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund participated in the project to gain experience and knowledge about new operational models in health care.
“This experimental project clearly demonstrated what can be achieved through multiprofessional collaboration. Clients feel better and many of their problems are solved, which means they need to resort to the health care system less often, spend less time in hospital care, and use fewer services provided by specialists,” says Timo Haikonen, Business Director of the Health Care Programme at Sitra.
“Medication costs increase constantly as the proportion of older people in the population increases. This is a great challenge, for which comprehensive evaluation of medical therapy may well be one answer,” he concludes
Further information
Terttu Puurunen, Pharmacist, Hyrynsalmi Pharmacy, tel. +358 40 581 7405, firstname.lastname@apteekit.net
Timo Haikonen, Business Director, Sitra, tel. +358 50 528 2568, firstname.lastname@sitra.fi
Elina Antila, Health Care Programme communications, tel. +358 40 548 3838, firstname.lastname@kuule.fi