Media Release
April 21 2006
Veterans’ MATES deliver on healthcare
Australia’s war veterans are experiencing fewer hospital admissions
resulting from medication-related problems following a regular medicines
review and feedback program run by the University of South Australia.
The Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre, based within UniSA’s Sansom
Institute, is partnering the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
in the Veterans’ MATES (Medicines Advice and Therapeutics Education
Services) program to look at ways of using information available on
patterns of healthcare delivered to veterans to improve their health
outcomes and quality of lives.
This is a truly national program where UniSA is the lead agency
contracting with major organisations including key experts from around
the country involved in the quality use of medicines, according to the
Centre’s director,
Professor Andy Gilbert.
“Under tight security and in compliance with privacy requirements, our
Centre has access to a unique database of veterans nationwide - that’s
rare even in world terms,” Professor Gilbert said.
“We are using the database to conduct drug utilisation studies or
studies that identify veterans with certain conditions, or particular
issues, and the medication being dispensed for them. We regularly write
to doctors and pharmacists, giving specific feedback about individual
veterans and include additional information that might be useful in
managing veterans in their care. We also write to veterans including
relevant information about their healthcare that we suggest they discuss
with their doctor and pharmacist.
“Where veterans routinely take five or more different medicines, we
suggest a home medicines review where the doctor, pharmacist and veteran
work together to make sure that veterans get the best result from the
medicines they are taking.
“The effect of the prescriber intervention and feedback program has been
more than a four-fold increase in home medicines reviews being delivered
to veterans,” Prof Gilbert said.
“We know from our studies that these reviews help to keep veterans out
of hospital and resolve a lot of their medication-related problems.
Australia has about 140,000 medication-related hospital admissions each
year and for people over 70, it’s about one in three emergency hospital
admissions. This is very relevant to veterans, whose average age is
between 81 and 82 years.
The program delivers annual savings of about $150 per review undertaken
for each veteran, usually in reduced hospital admissions or visits. But
the biggest benefit, according to Prof Gilbert, is the increased
confidence of veterans in using medicines properly and improved
knowledge about medicines.
Media contact
- Vincent Ciccarello office (08) 8302 0578 mobile 0434 603 457 email vincent.ciccarello@unisa.edu.au