Only one-in-five patients receive a Medicare-funded medication management review after entering an aged care facility, a study suggests. 

University of South Australia researchers say the figures show residential medication management reviews (RMMR) are “greatly underutilised” among new aged care patients at risk of harm due to polypharmacy.

They analysed data from 144,000 older adults (median age 84) who entered aged care between 2012 and 2015 to determine the rate of, and factors associated with, the timely provision of RMMRs.

Each had been dispensed 11 unique prescriptions on average in the preceding year before entering a nursing home.