Clinical Pharmacist-Led Bundled Care Model on Preventable Polypharmacy and Cost Avoidance

Summary

This study aims to evaluate whether a clinical pharmacist-led bundled care model can improve medication use and health outcomes in hospitalized adult patients with preventable polypharmacy. Preventable polypharmacy refers to the use of multiple medications when some may no longer be necessary, may be inappropriate, or may increase the risk of medication-related harm.

Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either the pharmacist-led bundled care intervention in addition to usual hospital care or usual hospital care alone. The intervention includes comprehensive medication reconciliation, assessment of medication appropriateness, identification of potentially inappropriate medications, individualized deprescribing recommendations when appropriate, patient and caregiver education, discharge medication reconciliation, and follow-up after hospital discharge.

The study will compare important clinical outcomes between the two groups, including hospital readmissions, emergency department visits, adverse drug events, medication appropriateness, quality of prescribing, and healthcare costs. The findings will help determine whether integrating a clinical pharmacist-led bundled care model into routine hospital practice can improve patient safety, optimize medication use, and reduce unnecessary healthcare utilization.

Conditions

• Medication-related Problems

Interventions

OTHER

Clinical Pharmacist-Led Bundled Care

Participants randomized to the intervention arm will receive a structured clinical pharmacist-led bundled care model in addition to usual hospital care. The intervention includes medication reconciliation at admission, comprehensive medication review, identification and resolution of medication-related problems, assessment of medication appropriateness using validated tools, deprescribing of potentially inappropriate medications when clinically indicated, dose optimization, evaluation of drug-drug interactions and medication safety, individualized pharmaceutical care planning, participation in multidisciplinary care with recommendations to the treating team, patient and caregiver medication counseling, discharge medication reconciliation, provision of an updated medication list, and post-discharge follow-up to reinforce medication adherence, identify medication-related problems, and optimize ongoing therapy. All interventions will be delivered according to a standardized study protocol

OTHER

Control Arm (Usual Care)

Participants randomized to the control arm will receive usual hospital care provided according to the standard practices of the participating institutions. This includes routine medical and nursing care, medication prescribing and review by the treating healthcare team, and standard discharge processes. No structured clinical pharmacist-led bundled care intervention, standardized comprehensive medication review, protocol-driven deprescribing, or post-discharge pharmacist follow-up will be provided as part of the study. Clinical pharmacy services that are routinely available at the participating hospitals may be provided as part of usual care but will not follow the standardized intervention protocol.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Sultan Qaboos University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2027-01-31

Primary Completion

2027-12-31

Completion

2028-06-30