# Classification system for primary care provider eConsults about medications for older adults with frailty

## TL;DR

A classification system was developed to analyze medication-related eConsult cases for older adults with frailty, aiming to improve care and reduce inappropriate medication use.

## Contribution

A novel classification system for medication-focused eConsults in frail older adults was developed and validated.

## Key findings

- The classification system includes five sections covering case details, medication recommendations, and potentially inappropriate medications.
- Endocrinology and cardiology were the most common specialties consulted for medication-related eConsults.
- Many patients were prescribed potentially inappropriate medications, but few consults addressed these concerns.

## Abstract

Providing primary care for people with frailty can be challenging due to an increased risk of adverse outcomes and use of potentially inappropriate medications which may exacerbate characteristics of frailty. eConsult is a service where primary care providers can receive timely specialist advice for their patients through a secure web-based application. We aimed to develop a classification system to characterize medication-focused eConsult questions for older adults with frailty and assess its usability.

A classification system was developed and refined over three cycles of improvement through a cross-sectional study of 35 cases categorized as medication-focused from cases submitted in 2019 for patients aged 65 or older with frailty through the Champlain BASE eConsult service (Ontario, Canada). The final classification system was then applied to each case.

The classification system contains 5 sections: (1) case descriptives; (2) intent and type of question; (3) medication recommendations and additional information in the response; (4) medication classification; and (5) potentially inappropriate medications. Among the 35 medication-focused cases, the most common specialties consulted were endocrinology (9 cases, 26%) and cardiology (5 cases, 14%). Medication histories were available for 29 cases (83%). Many patients were prescribed potentially inappropriate medications based on explicit tools (AGS Beers Criteria®, STOPPFall, Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden Scale, ThinkCascades) yet few consults inquired about these medications.

A classification system to describe medication-related eConsult cases for patients experiencing frailty was developed and applied to 35 eConsult cases. It can be applied to more cases to identify professional development opportunities and enhancements for eConsult services.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12875-024-02340-5.