By Townhall Chicago News Staff
The American Medical Association on Sunday adopted policy defining deprescribing as a routine component of patient-centered care during its Interim Meeting in Orlando.
The new policy establishes a formal definition for the practice, identifies barriers to its implementation and encourages further research and physician education. It marks the first time the Chicago-based organization has adopted a comprehensive framework on the practice of reducing or stopping medications.
The AMA defines deprescribing as the planned, supervised process of reducing or discontinuing medications when continued use may no longer provide clinical benefit, may cause harm that outweighs benefit, or is misaligned with a patient’s goals of care, particularly among older adults and during transitions of care, according to a news release.
“It is important that we recognize deprescribing as an essential, routine component of medication optimization and high-quality clinical care,” AMA Board Member Ilse R. Levin said in the release. “Deprescribing is not simply about taking patients off medications, but about ensuring medications continue to provide more benefit than harm over time.”
The policy was based on a report from the AMA Council on Science and Public Health, which found that rates of polypharmacy continue to rise. Polypharmacy refers to the simultaneous use of multiple medications by a patient. The council report said deprescribing can help safely reduce medication burden and may improve selected clinical and economic outcomes when carried out through an individualized, structured and supervised process, according to the release.
The report also highlighted challenges related to patient awareness, physician training, role clarity and fragmentation across transitions of care and practice settings.
The new policy encourages broader understanding of deprescribing through further research on clinical outcomes and best practices, as well as educational initiatives for physicians, care teams and patients.
The deprescribing policy was one of several adopted during the AMA’s Interim Meeting, which ran Nov. 6-9. Other policies addressed synthetic peptide regulation, sunscreen modernization, e-bike and e-scooter safety, insurer downcoding and physician moral injury.
Source: American Medical Association
