Understanding Principles of High Reliability Organizations Through the Eyes of VIONE: A Clinical Program to Improve Patient Safety by Deprescribing Potentially Inappropriate Medications and Reducing Polypharmacy

Saraswathy Battar; Kimberly R Watson Dickerson; Christopher Sedgwick; Tim Cmelik

Understanding Principles of High Reliability Organizations Through the Eyes of VIONE: A Clinical Program to Improve Patient Safety by Deprescribing Potentially Inappropriate Medications and Reducing Polypharmacy

Fed Pract. 2019 Dec;36(12):564-568.

Authors

Saraswathy Battar¹, Kimberly R Watson Dickerson¹, Christopher Sedgwick¹, Tim Cmelik¹

Affiliation

¹ is Associate Chief of Staff, Geriatrics and Extended Care Services at Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System in Little Rock at the time this article was submitted and is transitioning to Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas. is an Academic Detail Pharmacist; is Chief of Pharmacy; all at Central Arkansas VA Healthcare System in Little Rock. is a Department of Veterans Affairs VISN 15 Pharmacy Analytics Program Manager.

PMID: 31892781
PMCID: PMC6913614

Abstract

The assessment of polypharmacy and reduction of potentially inappropriate medications using VIONE has benefited about 60,000 veterans with more than 128,000 medications deprescribed, yielding more than $4 million in annualized cost avoidance.