Ri-Medi: a pilot implementation of a medication review and deprescribing service in primary care for elderly patients with polypharmacy in Rome

'Ri-Medi' is a pilot project implementation of a medication review and deprescribing (MRDP) service in the primary care setting, involving two health districts of the Local Health Authority Roma 1 (Rome, Italy). General practitioners (GPs) are supported in this activity by a multidisciplinary team consisting of epidemiologists, pharmacists, statisticians, pharmacologists, geriatricians, internists, and healthcare managers. Together with GPs, the team chooses specific therapeutic focuses for which updated evidence-based information and indications on the target population are provided. The focus is on the elderly population in hyper-polypharmacy (10+ drugs). For the pilot phase, the therapeutic focus was on potentially inappropriate statin use in primary prevention in patients aged 80+ years. For each GP, the number of patients at risk was estimated. In addition, a survey among a sample of voluntary GPs was launched to investigate their interest in participating in this activity, to collect potential critical issues and impressions, and to identify areas of interest for future MRDP campaigns of interest.