Interprofessional Collaboration
Medication Review
Overview
Medication safety is a cornerstone of modern healthcare. While medications play a vital role in preventing and treating disease, their inappropriate use can lead to drug-related problems (DRPs), including adverse drug reactions, harmful drug interactions, and inappropriate prescribing. These issues not only compromise patient health but also place a significant burden on healthcare systems.
Medication Review (MR) is a structured, evidence-based intervention designed to address these challenges. As defined by the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE), MR involves a systematic evaluation of a patient’s medication regimen to optimize treatment effectiveness and safety. Depending on the available information on a patient’s medicine, PCNE defines three different types of medication review: i.) type 1 (simple MR); ii.) type 2A and 2B (intermediate MR); iii.) type 2 (advanced MR). By identifying and resolving DRPs, MRs empower healthcare professionals to deliver targeted, patient-centered care.
Our Vision: Routine Medication Reviews in Outpatient Care
In our research group, we are dedicated to developing and implementing an interprofessional MR service that enhances medication safety and fosters collaboration among healthcare professionals in outpatient settings. Our goal is to equip health care professionals with the essential tools, training, and processes needed to deliver high-quality, sustainable medication reviews to improve patient outcomes.
Current Projects
P3S: Pharmacists and Physicians together improving Patient’s medication Safety
Collaboration between pharmacists and physicians is proven to enhance medication safety more effectively than separate approaches. By integrating shared decision-making, we empower patients to take an active role in their care, further improving treatment outcomes. The P3S service is built on this principle, actively involving patients, pharmacists, and physicians in a unified approach.
The P3S service is structured in three key steps:
Patient Self-Screening: Patients assess their risk for drug-related problems (DRPs) at their general practitioner’s (GP) practice and, if needed, are referred to a community pharmacy.
Comprehensive Medication Review: Community pharmacists conduct a Type III MR (as defined by PCNE), which includes a detailed medication history, laboratory data analysis, and patient interview. Recommendations are then shared with the GP.
Shared Decision-Making: The GP and patient collaboratively decide on any necessary therapy adjustments.
Following the service’s development, a contextual analysis was conducted, including a pilot test to identify barriers and facilitators. This phase allowed us to refine the service and develop tailored implementation strategies. Currently, we are conducting a hybrid type II effectiveness-implementation study across 18 sites (general practice + community pharmacy) in the German-speaking region of Switzerland. Data collection is ongoing, and we look forward to sharing our findings soon.
Publications:
- Linnéa S. Wälti, Chiara Jeiziner, Lea Broggini, Stefan Maydl, Dominique Kim, Fabienne Boeni, Samuel S. Allemann, Interprofessional medication review in the outpatient setting: A mixed-method contextual analysis, Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, Volume 66, Issue 1, 2026, 102984, ISSN 1544-3191, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2025.102984.
Travel Pharmacy
Overview
Maintaining safe and effective treatments while travelling can be challenging. In spite of the increase in international travel, previous research failed to address the medication safety of travellers. Medication-related problems (MRPs) are a substantial aspect of medication safety. It remains speculative what MRPs health professionals and travellers face as well as how MRPs including medication-related harm can be prevented during travels.
Our Vision: Enhance medication safety to support safe travels
We seek to understand how travel consultations are performed, what challenges health professionals as well as travellers on long-term medication face and how they can be better supported.
Current Projects
MEdication safety of TRAvellers (METRA) Study
The impact of MRPs in travel health is understudied. This multidisciplinary project, therefore, aims to investigate how the medication safety of travellers can be improved. This project is executed in cooperation with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and examines how travel health consultations are performed, how health professionals and travellers can be better supported as well as what factors may impact the medication safety of travellers.
