Can AI help reduce polypharmacy? (Part 2)

About this episode

The episode discusses the role of AI, specifically large language models, in supporting medication reviews and explores a study comparing AI assessments to expert clinicians.

In this second part of our polypharmacy discussion with Steve Williams, we continue to explore whether large language models like Microsoft Copilot could play a practical role in supporting medication reviews. We consider a real case from a duty day in general practice where Copilot was used to assess prescribing safety and generate a summary of deprescribing opportunities. This prompt was used: “Review the following medication list using the latest British Geriatrics Society (BGS) guidance and the Scottish Polypharmacy Guidance (7-step approach). For each medicine, identify: Indication and whether it is still appropriate Clinical risks (frailty, falls, anticholinergic burden, renal function, interactions) Deprescribing opportunities Safer alternatives if applicable Monitoring requirements Then provide a concise summary of priority actions and any safety red flags that need urgent review. Here is the medication list: [PASTE MEDICATIONS HERE] Include references to the relevant guideline steps where appropriate.” The conversation also covers a new study led by Professor Tony Avery, which tested an LLM against an expert clinician to assess medication safety in nearly 300 anonymised…

People in this episode

Hosts: Steve, Jessica Morley

Guest: Steve Williams

Topics covered

• polypharmacy
• AI in healthcare
• medication review
• large language models
• prescribing safety

Keywords

• Microsoft Copilot
• British Geriatrics Society
• Scottish Polypharmacy Guidance
• deprescribing

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Copilot, Microsoft Copilot

Books & works: SNUG

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