Pharmacists,

There is a new Cerner rule that fires an alert when a medication on the Beers list is ordered on an elderly patient. PharmIT and Med Safety have done extensive work to adjust the alert and limit which medications create the alert. At this time, this is a provider-only alert for NAH providers. We have advocated that, since Beers Criteria medications in the elderly need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis at the providers discretion, this should not be an alert pharmacists receive. The concern is that there is no actionable intervention for a pharmacist to make without specified automatic interchanges or dose adjustments in place. We continue to try to limit alert fatigue and only send alerts to pharmacists that are actionable and well-defined.

With that being said, we do want everyone to be aware that this is happening in case you get phone calls from providers asking questions about what to do or why they are getting this alert. You can provide standard drug information and offer your clinical perspective regarding the alert for specific medications as appropriate. No other action is expected of pharmacists at this time. As we continue to evaluate age-friendly measures, we may implement future interchanges or dose adjustments. We will keep you informed as those develop. Let me know if you have any questions. 

Thanks,