Polypharmacy & Medication Reconciliation Flashcards
7 cards from real CCP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Polypharmacy & Medication Reconciliation flashcards as text
A chronic care manager is conducting a comprehensive medication review for a patient with heart failure, diabetes, and COPD on 9 medications. Which framework best guides identification of unnecessary medications?
Answer: Prescribing Cascade identification
The prescribing cascade occurs when a new drug is added to treat a side effect of an existing drug, making it the key framework for identifying unnecessary medications.
A patient on lisinopril develops a chronic dry cough. Her provider adds dextromethorphan to manage it. This scenario best illustrates which concept?
Answer: Prescribing cascade
Adding dextromethorphan to treat an ACE inhibitor-induced cough is a classic prescribing cascade rather than recognizing and switching the causative agent.
Which patient factor most significantly increases the risk of adverse drug reactions in the context of polypharmacy?
Answer: Renal impairment
Renal impairment reduces drug clearance, leading to drug accumulation and increased adverse effects, especially in polypharmacy.
During a home visit, a care manager discovers a patient taking both brand-name Tylenol and a generic cold medicine containing acetaminophen. Which risk does this represent?
Answer: Therapeutic duplication
Taking two products that both contain acetaminophen creates therapeutic duplication and risks hepatotoxicity from cumulative overdose.
A care coordinator is performing medication reconciliation for a patient just transferred from the ICU. Which source is considered the MOST accurate for the patient's home medication list?
Answer: Patient's own medication bottles
The patient's own medication bottles provide the most accurate real-world picture of what the patient was actually taking at home.
A 70-year-old patient on warfarin begins eating large amounts of leafy green vegetables. Which laboratory change would be expected?
Answer: INR decreases (under-anticoagulation)
Leafy greens contain high amounts of vitamin K, which antagonizes warfarin's effect and decreases INR.
Which medication reconciliation step specifically involves verifying the medication list with the patient to confirm what they are actually taking versus what was prescribed?
Answer: Best Possible Medication History (BPMH)
The Best Possible Medication History (BPMH) is a structured interview process to compile the most accurate possible record of a patient's actual medication use.