Retrospective Analysis of Adult Patients Presenting to the Acute Care Setting Requesting Prescriptions

Introduction: Patient visits to the emergency department (ED) or urgent care centre (UCC) for the sole purpose of requesting prescriptions are challenging for the patient, the physician, and the department. The primary objective of this study was to determine the characteristics of these patients, the nature of their requests, and the response to these requests. Our secondary objective was to determine the proportion of these medication requests that had street value. Methods: This was a retrospective, electronic chart review of all adult patients requesting a prescription from a two-site ED and/or an UCC in a medium-sized Canadian city between April 1, 2014 –June 30, 2017. Recorded outcomes included patient demographic data and access to a family doctor, medication requested, whether or not a prescription was given, and ED length of stay. Medication street value was determined using a local police...
Source: Western Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Source Type: research