Drugs cure diseases or prevent their progression, they shorten treatment times and extend life spans. But adverse effects can cause damage and, in the worst case, be life-threatening. The University of Leipzig and Leipzig University Hospital have therefore set themselves the goal of ensuring the best possible safety for patients in drug therapy. In order to effectively bundle the prevention of drug-related problems as an interdisciplinary task, the Center for Drug Safety (ZAMS) was founded on July 14, 2015.
THE CHALLENGE: MEDICATION ERRORS Endanger PATIENT SAFETY
Adverse drug reactions can cause deaths, cause lasting harm to patients, prolong hospital stays and be associated with significant cost increases. Medicines are intended to cure and alleviate disease, prolong life, prevent disease progression, shorten treatment duration and improve quality of life. Drugs are therefore an indispensable component of virtually all modern treatment procedures, provided that the risk-benefit ratio is carefully considered. Of particular importance in this risk-benefit assessment is the fact that many adverse drug reactions are avoidable and can be prevented by observing appropriate prescription and application recommendations in the sense of targeted prevention. For the above-mentioned reasons, prescribing physicians and nursing staff should be advised and supported by scientifically proven strategies for drug information in order to primarily prevent medication errors and, as a consequence, adverse drug reactions.
OUR ANSWER: CENTER FOR DRUG SAFETY LEIPZIG
The Center for Drug Safety (ZAMS) is intended to create a translational and interdisciplinary platform that coordinates and bundles all issues in patient care, research and teaching on the topic of drug safety in order to achieve optimal patient:internal safety, taking into account the framework conditions in everyday practice and on the basis of scientific research projects. In this way, resources are also to be used efficiently and quality assurance measures are to be made visible both internally and externally. The contents of drug safety are also to be increasingly incorporated into further and continuing education in order to communicate the knowledge gained more widely.
THE OBJECTIVES: STRATEGIES FOR OPTIMIZING DRUG SAFETY
In this center, strategies are to be developed and investigated that will both enable the optimization of efficacy under clinical conditions (effectiveness) and reduce avoidable drug risks in patient care.
- Prevention of drug-related problems and optimization of drug safety
- Quality assurance in routine patient care from prescription (physician) to application (caregiver, patient, family members)
- Application-oriented health care research for immediate patient benefit
- Achieving efficacy from studies in everyday life (optimizing effectiveness)
- Avoid risks, e.g. through dose individualization
- Prevent unnecessary costs through pharmacoeconomic therapy optimization
