As the world continues to grapple with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Long Covid has emerged as a significant public health challenge. Characterised by persistent symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, and joint pain lasting weeks, months or even years after an infection, Long Covid affects millions globally. Yet, one major hurdle in understanding and addressing this condition is its under-recording in electronic medical records (EMRs). Accurate coding of Long Covid in EMRs is essential for studying its epidemiology, improving patient care, and managing its impact on healthcare systems and on societies. Electronic medical records are at the core of modern health systems and have largely replaced the more traditional paper-based records used by healthcare providers for many decades. Electronic medical records are used to track patient diagnoses, treatments, and clinical outcomes. When Long Covid is not properly coded, it becomes difficult to use this data to c...
Polypharmacy, commonly defined as the concurrent use of five or more medications, is a growing challenge in modern healthcare, especially among older adults with multiple long-term conditions. While advances in medicine have improved disease management, they have also led to an unintended consequence: a rising medication burden that can harm patient well-being. Our recent study published in Clinical Practice explores how reframing polypharmacy as a chronic condition can empower future doctors to manage it more effectively. For example, polypharmacy substantially increases the risk of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). This underscores the urgent need for a shift in how we approach medication management. Traditional medical education focuses on treating individual diseases, often leading to prescribing cascades where one drug’s side effect triggers another prescription. This cycle complicates care and worsens outcomes. We designed a three-phase educational intervention for final-...