Low-value Care

COVID-19 and the Case for Medical Management and Primary Care

Abstract: Communities of color are suffering disproportionately from coronavirus. The social determinants of health that lead to higher concentrations of hypertension and diabetes can be mitigated by investment in primary care.

Publication: Journal of Primary Care and Community Health

Date Published: October 21, 2020

Author(s): Luis W. Dominguez and Joel S. Willis

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To eliminate medication overload, serious cultural, educational, and policy changes are needed. This action plan offers recommendations for policymakers, health care institutions, clinicians, and patients across five key categories to reduce harm from multiple medication use. Suggested Citation: Eliminating medication overload: A national action plan. Working Group on Medication Overload. Brookline, MA: The Lown Institute, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46241/LI.YLBW4885

Pharmaceutical marketing is a significant factor in the growing public health crisis of medication overload, which puts millions of older adults at risk of preventable harm and premature death. This issue brief provides recommendations to reduce pharmaceutical industry influence by limiting pharma sales rep visits to clinicians and direct-to-consumer advertising.

This issue brief provides recommendations for clinical practice guidelines and electronic health records that would give clinicians the information they need to appropriately prescribe and deprescribe.