Disclosures: Stephanie M. Green, DO: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Objective: The purpose of this quality improvement project is to evaluate the effectiveness of inter-disciplinary education sessions  about safe prescribing in older patients provided by Geriatrics to PM&R, and how it can improve collaboration in healthcare.  Last year, I developed a study utilizing a pre-lecture and post-lecture assessment, and a single tele-video lecture from Geriatric fellows to convey safe prescribing practices to PM&R residents. The data analysis demonstrated benefit and effectiveness but was limited in the ability to evaluate more long-term knowledge retention. Additionally, the tele-video conference proved to be a barrier for participation. This year’s study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of two in-person lectures from Geriatric fellows about the same topic, with more evaluation of knowledge retention, at short and long-term intervals.

Design: Two in-person lectures with online assessments Setting : Hospital resident conference room during a dedicated resident lecture time Participants : Lectures provided by 2 Geriatrics fellows to 9 PM&R residents

Interventions: Two in-person lectures, in January, were given from the Geriatric fellows. Lectures incorporated general knowledge of polypharmacy, Beer’s criteria, common medications prescribed in the rehab setting, calculation of creatinine clearance, drug-drug interactions, and safe medications for common problems like nausea, headaches, pain, depression, and hyperlipidemia.

Main Outcome Measures: Evaluation of knowledge was collected anonymously via Google forms online, from pre and immediate post-lecture assessments. The assessments were created from the Geriatric attendings. Additional data will be collected from a 6-month post-lecture assessment. Overall analysis will be performed to compare pre-lecture and post-lecture assessments and evaluate short and long-term knowledge of safe prescribing in older patients.

Results: Current results from this year’s study indicate improvement in knowledge and retention in short-term, immediate and 2-week times. The 6-month results are still pending. Conclusions: In-person inter-disciplinary education sessions prove effective in both resident education for safe prescribing in the older patient population and for collaboration in healthcare.

Level of Evidence: Level III

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/polypharmacy-and-safe-prescribing-practices-in-older-patients%e2%80%afeducating-pmr%e2%80%afresidents-via-interdisciplinary-lectures-phase-2/