CancelRx implementation: Observed changes to medication discontinuation workflows over time

When patients are seen in an ambulatory outpatient clinic, such as their primary care provider’s office, the prescriber often stops or discontinues medications. Although medication discontinuations are documented in the clinic’s health record, this information may not be communicated to the pharmacy. Within the last decade, CancelRx has attempted to address this issue by sending a message from the clinic to the pharmacy when a medication has been discontinued or changed.

This project from HIP Investigator Dr. Edmond Ramly studied pharmacy medication discontinuation workflows and pharmacists’ perspectives at 3 UW Health outpatient pharmacies before and after implementation of CancelRx. This study provided insight into the medication discontinuation workflow in community pharmacies, especially after implementing CancelRx.