Prescribing Indicators for Evaluating Drug Use in Nursing Homes

Abstract

This pilot study showed that prescribing indicators based solely on pharmacy prescription data can be a useful tool to evaluate drug prescribing. With some of these prescribing indicators, we identified cases of potentially suboptimal prescribing. However, with other indicators such as those based on drug dosages, we could not identify suboptimal prescribing, and clinical information from the prescriber was necessary to get insight into the appropriateness of prescribing.