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At least 703 records · Page 39Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Agreement between self-reported antihypertensive drug use and pharmacy records in a population-based study in The Netherlands.

From 1987 to 1991, over 36,000 men and women aged 20-59 years have been examined in the Monitoring Project on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in The Netherlands. Classification of the treatment status of hypertensives in this population-based study was based on self-administered questionnaires. In order to assess the accuracy of self-reported antihypertensive drug use we compared the questionnaire information with computerized pharmacy records from a sample of 372 hypertensive subjects. Most antihypertensive drugs that were mentioned in the questionnaire were present in the pharmacy medication history (93%). However, this percentage was less (76%) when a comparison was made with the calculated duration of use based on the number of units prescribed and the directions for use in the pharmacy records. About 94% of the hypertensive subjects who were using an antihypertensive drug according to the pharmacy records, also mentioned at least one antihypertensive drug in the questionnaire. Agreement between self-reported antihypertensive drug use and pharmacy records was consistently high for all classes of antihypertensive drugs. Among 321 (86%) subjects, the number and types of self-reported antihypertensive drugs were exactly the same as in the pharmacy records. In conclusion, the agreement between self-reported antihypertensive drug use and pharmacy records was high, and the self-reported questionnaire information on antihypertensive drug use can be reliably used for the classification of treatment status of hypertensive subjects in this population-based study.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Laxative prescribing in relation to opioid use and the influence of pharmacy-based intervention.

INTRODUCTION: Opioid-induced constipation is a common problem and can cause serious complications. It is widely advised that laxatives should be started concurrently with opiates, unless there is a clear indication not to do so. OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to estimate how often laxatives were started concurrently with opiates and to describe the effect of pharmacy-based interventions to promote the use of laxatives in patients starting opioids. METHODS: Twenty-six community pharmacies identified all patients who received a first prescription for a strong opioid during January and February of 1998, 1999 or 2000. Pharmacists collected information on patient, drug and prescriber characteristics (age, gender, use of opiates and laxatives). A separate questionnaire was used to collect data on pharmacy-based interventions to promote the simultaneous prescribing of laxatives with the opiates. RESULTS: Overall, 37% of the patients receiving an opioid started taking laxatives within 5 days. The percentage of patients who received laxatives simultaneously with opioids increased from 31% in 1998 to 35% in 1999 and 42% in 2000. In 117 (43%) of the opioid prescriptions, pharmacy-based intervention had taken place before the prescription date. Of these, 48.7% was accompanied by a laxative. Opioid prescriptions (n=152) without a pharmacy based intervention were accompanied in 27.6%. After adjustment for covariates (including time trends), pharmacy-based intervention increased the probability of concomitant laxative use 1.9 [95% CI 1.1-3.3] times. DISCUSSION: This study shows that the widely used guideline to start a laxative when prescribing an opioid is not always followed in daily practice. In addition, we showed that pharmacy-based intervention contributed to increasing laxative use in patients receiving opioids.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Outbreak of Serratia marcescens infections following injection of betamethasone compounded at a community pharmacy.

BACKGROUND: In June 2001, following the report of 4 patients with Serratia marcescens meningitis who received epidural injections of betamethasone compounded at a community pharmacy, we initiated an outbreak investigation. METHODS: All patients who received injections of betamethasone from the production lot common to the 4 patients were evaluated. A case patient was defined as a patient who received compounded betamethasone and had S. marcescens isolated from a sterile site or clinical and laboratory evidence of infection. We cultured all recovered betamethasone, environmental specimens from the pharmacy, and medications recovered from an ambulatory surgery center. The California Board of Pharmacy reviewed the procedures used to prepare the betamethasone. RESULTS: We identified 11 patients with culture-confirmed S. marcescens (8 patients) or clinical infection (3 patients) following injection of compounded betamethasone from 25 May through 31 May 2001. Case patients had meningitis (5 patients, with 3 deaths), epidural abscesses (5 patients), or an infected hip (1 patient). S. marcescens was isolated from 35 (69%) of 51 betamethasone vials recovered, from pharmacy specimens of 1% carboxymethylcellulose stock solution, from pharmacy surfaces, and from multiple parenteral materials used at the ambulatory surgery center. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns of S. marcescens isolates of representative specimens from patients, the betamethasone, the pharmacy, and the ambulatory surgery center were identical. Deficient practices in compounding of betamethasone included inadequate autoclaving temperatures and failure to perform terminal sterilization. CONCLUSIONS: This outbreak of serious S. marcescens infection followed improper compounding of betamethasone in a community pharmacy. Enforceable national standards for pharmaceutical compounding are needed to reduce the risk of such outbreaks.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗
PubMed2005

Using pharmacy data to identify those with chronic conditions in Emilia Romagna, Italy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Automated pharmacy data have been used to develop a measure of chronic disease status in the general population. The objectives of this project were to refine and apply a model of chronic disease identification using Italian automated pharmacy data; to describe how this model may identify patterns of morbidity in Emilia Romagna, a large Italian region; and to compare estimated prevalence rates using pharmacy data with those available from a 2000 Emilia Romagna disease surveillance study. METHODS: Using the Chronic Disease Score, a list of chronic conditions related to the consumption of drugs under the Italian pharmaceutical dispensing system was created. Clinical review identified medication classes within the Italian National Therapeutic Formulary that were linked to the management of each chronic condition. Algorithms were then tested on pharmaceutical claims data from Emilia Romagna for 2001 to verify the applicability of the classification scheme. RESULTS: Thirty-one chronic condition drug groups (CCDGs) were identified. Applying the model to the pharmacy data, approximately 1.5 million individuals (37.1%) of the population were identified as having one or more of the 31 CCDGs. The 31 CCDGs accounted for 77% (E556 million) of 2001 pharmaceutical expenditures. Cardiovascular diseases, rheumatological conditions, chronic respiratory illness, gastrointestinal diseases and psychiatric diseases were the most frequent chronic conditions. External validation comparing rates of the diseases found through using pharmacy data with those of a 2000 Emilia Romagna disease surveillance study showed similar prevalence of illness. CONCLUSIONS: Using Italian automated pharmacy data, a measure of population-based chronic disease status was developed. Applying the model to pharmaceutical claims from Emilia Romagna 2001, a large proportion of the population was identified as having chronic conditions. Pharmacy data may be a valuable alternative to survey data to assess the extent to which large populations are affected by chronic conditions.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pharmacy-based care for perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Perimenopause and menopause represent a major physiologic and, often, psychosocial transition in the lives of women. During this time, women often experience disturbing new symptoms and develop an increased awareness of their risks for major chronic illnesses. Women in this stage of life are often highly motivated to improve their health and can benefit greatly from pharmacy-based preventive health care services. Although perimenopausal and menopausal women represent an important target market, some pharmacists may wish to offer more focused services within the broader arena of women's health. For example, a number of community pharmacies have developed niche services for these patients, such as osteoporosis screening, (46) breast cancer risk assessment, (50) or bioidentical HRT consulting and compounding. (59) Other pharmacy care services that may be targeted to women in midlife include smoking cessation, weight management, and dietary supplement consulting. Based on the experiences of the Mar-Main Pharmacy staff, a practical approach is to implement new services gradually, while focusing on providing high-quality, individualized service to a small number of patients. Using this strategy, Mar-Main Pharmacy has experienced tremendous growth in its bioidentical HRT services. This increase in demand for pharmacy services has arisen from word-of-mouth referrals from patients and physicians rather than formal marketing. Perimenopausal and menopausal women represent a growing and increasingly knowledgeable group of patients. Many of these women are seeking care that is individualized, responsive to their health beliefs, and designed to help them maintain a high quality of life. Providing pharmacy-based consulting services for these patients can be extremely rewarding, both professionally and personally.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Negotiating with third party payers: one community pharmacy's experience.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate financial terms and legal wording in insurance contracts and negotiate their terms with companies to improve an independent pharmacy's financial position and to determine the time required to negotiate a contract and translate that time into a salary cost. SETTING: An independent pharmacy in a small town in Alabama with a population of approximately 6,000. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: The prescription department accounts for two-thirds of the pharmacy's sales and dispenses approximately 70,000 prescriptions each year. Insurance companies paid for over 59% of these prescriptions in 2000. The pharmacy is open 7 days a week with one full-time pharmacist and a second pharmacist who works 2 days a month. PRACTICE INNOVATION: A contract negotiation form was developed that addressed factors that might affect a pharmacy's decision to accept or reject a contract; the form included an area for recording the time involved in negotiating each contract. INTERVENTIONS: Insurance companies selected by the pharmacy owner were faxed copies of an Insurer Demographics Collection Form. Upon collection of all data and finalization of proposed changes, a copy of the contract with the proposed changes marked, along with a letter explaining and justifying the changes, was sent to the insurance company. If no response was received from the company, the contact person was called and negotiations proceeded over the telephone. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary end points were the percentage of companies that would negotiate and the average increase in reimbursement achieved. Secondary end points included the time involved in negotiations and the translation of that time into a salary cost. RESULTS: None of the nine participating companies accepted any of the changes proposed. The time to negotiate each contract ranged from 28 minutes to 74 minutes, taking an average of 48.4 minutes. Depending on the division of work between the pharmacist and the technician, the salary cost for the negotiations ranged from $14.68 to $18.73 per contract. CONCLUSION: This study provides a realistic description of attempts at contract negotiation between one pharmacy and nine third party payers. The difficulty of achieving successful results and the necessity of carefully considering the time and cost of contract negotiations underscore how important it is for independent pharmacists to concentrate their efforts on contracts and terms they have an opportunity to change.

Alabama↗
PubMed2005

Medical and pharmacy expenditures after implementation of a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor prior authorization program.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of a cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor prior authorization (PA) program on direct medical and pharmacy costs. DESIGN: Prospective, pre- and postimplementation cohort study with reference group. SETTING: Large corporation in the Midwest. PATIENTS: Of 26,375 continuously enrolled members, 737 used a COX-2 inhibitor in the 3 months before January 1, 2003, when the PA program was implemented. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS: The PA program limits coverage for a COX-2 inhibitor to members with a documented risk for a nonselective nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced gastrointestinal adverse event. All pharmacy and medical claims and costs were analyzed from the payer's perspective for a 15-month period. Separate pharmacy cost comparisons and medical cost comparisons were made between the 3-month quarter before PA program implementation and each follow-up quarter after PA program implementation. In the 3 months after PA program implementation, 620 (84.1%) of 737 members had no claims for a COX-2 inhibitor, and during this period their pharmacy and medical costs initially declined 40.0% (p < 0.001) and 18.7% (p < 0.001), respectively, and remained significantly lower. Among a subgroup of 156 members who tried to fill a COX-2 inhibitor prescription but were denied coverage, pharmacy and medical costs initially declined, 48.1% (p < 0.001) and 10.3% (p < 0.001), respectively, with pharmacy costs remaining significantly lower; however, overall medical expenditures increased, then returned to baseline. No change was noted in physician outpatient encounters, and two members had an emergency department visit for abdominal pain with no gastrointestinal ulcerations or bleeds during the 12-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: Among members denied coverage for a COX-2 inhibitor after implementation of a PA program, pharmacy costs declined without a medical cost increase associated with gastrointestinal diagnoses.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Clinical pharmacy, pharmaceutical care, and the quality of drug therapy.

BACKGROUND: Because of concerns about patient safety and the quality of health care in America, in particular about drug therapy, pharmacists have unprecedented opportunities to increase their value and significance. When defining clinical pharmacy and pharmaceutical care, pharmacists long ago recognized the need to improve the safety and effectiveness of drug therapy. OBJECTIVE: To describe how clinical pharmacy and pharmaceutical care, closely related concepts, can contribute to a strategy for improving the quality of drug therapy. DESIGN: Commentary and review of selected publications. CONCLUSION: Pharmacists can improve the quality of drug therapy by improving the organizational structures through which drug therapy is provided, specifically by creating medications use systems and by regularly evaluating their performance. As envisaged by the Institute of Medicine, these systems must be patient centered, cooperative, and interprofessional. To maximize pharmacists' participation in such systems, pharmaceutical education should include courses in medications use systems as necessary counterparts to courses in pharmacotherapeutics. Clinical functions must be organized around patient need and directed at outcomes. Clinical practice should constitute the mainstream practice of pharmacy rather than an "optional" specialty. Pharmaceutical care describes the original purpose of clinical pharmacy, when it was understood as a professional practice rather than a health science. It describes a way that clinical pharmacy, especially specialists and subspecialists, could coordinate their work more effectively. The concept of clinical pharmacy adds essential clarity about the process component of pharmacists' participation in, and strengthens the academic basis of, pharmaceutical care. The clinical, humanitarian, and economic case for preventing drug-related morbidity is strong, and pharmacy has much to offer. It is, again, time to work together as a profession to plan our common future.

Drug Therapy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Framework for pharmacy services quality improvement--a bridge to cross the quality chasm. Part I. The opportunity and the tool.

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on the subject of quality improvement principles and methods applied to pharmacy services and to describe a framework for current and future efforts in pharmacy services quality improvement and effective drug therapy management. BACKGROUND: The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy produced the Catalog of Pharmacy Quality Indicators in 1997, followed by the Summary of National Pharmacy Quality Measures in February 1999. In April 2002, AMCP introduced Pharmacy's Framework for Drug Therapy Management in the 21st Century. The Framework documents include a self-assessment tool that details more than 250 specific "components" that describe tasks, behaviors, skills, functions, duties, and responsibilities that contribute to meeting customer expectations for effective drug therapy management. FINDINGS: There are many opportunities for quality improvement in clinical, service, and cost outcomes related to drug therapy management. These may include patient safety; incidence of medical errors; adverse drug events; patient adherence to therapy; attainment of target goals of blood pressure, glucose, and lipid levels; risk reduction for adverse cardiac events and osteoporotic-related fractures; patient satisfaction; risk of hospitalization or mortality; and cost of care. Health care practitioners can measure improvements in health care quality in several ways including (a) a better patient outcome at the same cost, (b) the same patient outcome at lower cost, (c) a better patient outcome at lower cost, or (d) a significantly better patient outcome at moderately higher cost. Measurement makes effective management possible. A framework of component factors (e.g., tasks) is necessary to facilitate changes in the key processes and critical factors that will help individual practitioners and health care systems meet customer expectations in regard to drug therapy, thus improving these outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Quality improvement in health care services in the United States will be made in incremental changes that rely on a structure-process-outcome model. The structure is provided by evidence created from controlled randomized trials and other studies of care and system outcomes that are based on the scientific method. The process portion is created by the application of evidence in the form of clinical practice guidelines, clinical practice models, and self-assessment tools such as Pharmacy's Framework for Drug Therapy Management. Incremental changes in structure and process will result in the desirable outcome of meeting customer needs for more effective drug therapy and disease management.

Guidelines as Topic↗
PubMed1992

Effect of clinical pharmacy input on physician prescribing habits in the nursing home care unit.

The goal of this study was to evaluate any changes in medication use in our 60-bed nursing home care unit as a result of eliminating clinical pharmacy services during a 2-week period. Information was obtained on patient medications and number of doses dispensed. All patients were found to have a 6% increase in average number of scheduled medications, a 3% increase in average total medications, and an increase in scheduled doses dispensed by 10% during the absence of clinical pharmacy services. These numbers declined by 16, 18, and 9%, respectively, 2 weeks after the return of clinical pharmacy services. When evaluating only those 37 patients present the entire 4 week period, average scheduled medications rose 5% and total medications rose 4% during the absence of clinical pharmacy services and declined 13 and 17%, respectively, upon return of services. Eleven patients showed an increase in total number of medications during the absence of clinical pharmacy services whereas 21 patients showed a decline in medications after the return of clinical pharmacy services (P less than 0.001). The authors conclude that clinical pharmacy services must be provided on a continuous basis to maintain good physician prescribing habits in the nursing home care unit.

Drug Utilization↗
PubMed1999

Health status and satisfaction with pharmacy services.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between self-reported health status and satisfaction with pharmacy services. STUDY DESIGN: Secondary analysis of data previously collected via a computer-assisted telephone interview system. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Survey respondents were enrollees in a large managed care organization who were recent patrons of either traditional or mail pharmacy services. Satisfaction data were gathered using an existing satisfaction with pharmacy services survey. Health status was measured using the Medical Outcome Study's Short-Form 12-Item Health Survey. The relationships between satisfaction with pharmacy services and health status were analyzed using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: A significant positive relationship between mental health status and satisfaction with pharmacy services was hypothesized and confirmed. The correlations between mental health status and satisfaction, however, were not strong (r = .10 to .18). No relationship between physical health status and satisfaction with pharmacy services was observed. Similar results were observed in patrons of both traditional and mail pharmacy services. CONCLUSION: This investigation offers evidence that satisfaction with healthcare services is more closely related to mental health status than to physical health status. This has important implications for case-mix adjustments in the measurement of satisfaction with care.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMed2004

Explaining the relationship between race/ethnicity and pharmacy purchased syringes among injection drug users in New York City.

OBJECTIVE: Pharmacy syringe sales without a prescription became legal in New York State on January 1, 2001 through the Expanded Syringe Access Demonstration Program (ESAP). At the same time, Pharmacy use among Black and Hispanic injection drug users was found to be significantly lower when compared to Whites. The purpose of this study was to assess the factors that could explain the relationship between race/ethnicity and pharmacy use. DESIGN: Data were combined from 2 on-going injection drug user (IDU) studies in 2 New York City neighborhoods. Social and behavioral factors independently associated with ever purchasing a nonprescription syringe in the past 6 months and examined using cross-sectional logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 337 IDUs, the majority were male (79%), Hispanic (73%) and had a mean age of 35 years. In bivariate analysis, IDUs who reported pharmacy use were less likely to be Black or Hispanic, older, and to have reported recent syringe exchange program (SEP) attendance compared to non-pharmacy users. Additionally, pharmacy users were more likely to have knowledge of ESAP, and report discrimination by police in the past year compared to non-users. After adjustment for recent SEP attendance (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=0.27; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.14-0.55), ESAP knowledge (AOR=13.11; 95% CI=6.54-26.31), discrimination by police (AOR=3.56; 95% CI=1.73-7.35), and discrimination due to race (AOR=0.25, 95% CI=0.11-0.58), race/ethnicity was not a significant predictor of pharmacy use. CONCLUSIONS: Race/ethnicity may not be an important determinant of ESAP when more salient social circumstances, such as past discrimination, are considered. Educational efforts should be enhanced to reach those who continue to perceive barriers to ESAP.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Economic profiling of physicians: does omission of pharmacy claims bias performance measurement?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the degree to which the absence of prescriber identifying information and the absence of pharmacy claims might affect the validity of physicians' economic profiles. STUDY DESIGN: The study database consisted of 4 years of claims from a mixed-model health maintenance organization. Using the grouper of Episode Treatment Groups by Symmetry Health Data Systems, Inc, 2 episode databases were created, with and without pharmacy claims included. For each database, the responsibility for defined episodes was attributed to physicians within specialty (1) on the basis of combined professional and prescribing costs and (2) on the basis of professional costs alone. METHODS: Using the different databases and attribution rules, physicians were ranked within specialty on the economic profiling metric, and the various rankings were compared for consistency. Analyses were performed for cardiologists, family practitioners, general surgeons, and neurologists. RESULTS: The absence of prescriber identifying information appears to have only a small effect on physicians' economic profiles. The absence of pharmacy claims, on the other hand, may affect economic profile performance, but the effects differ by specialty and depend on pharmacy costs as a percentage of episode total costs for the specialty and the correlation of episode costs with and without pharmacy costs included. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians' economic profile rankings are not greatly affected by the presence or absence of prescriber identifying information in pharmacy claims. If pharmacy claims are missing altogether, however, valid economic profiling remains feasible for some clinical specialties but not for others.

Bias↗
PubMed2006

Assessment of pharmacy manpower and services in West Virginia.

BACKGROUND: The shortage of pharmacists across the nation has been much publicized and has been identified as one of the reasons for new schools of pharmacy to open or for existing colleges and schools of pharmacy to increase their class sizes. This article represents the assessment of a new school of pharmacy's evaluation of staffing and practice in its geographic area. OBJECTIVE: This survey represents the first data point within the School of Pharmacy assessment plan and will be repeated at several intervals after the program opens to longitudinally evaluate its impact on pharmacy staffing and services within West Virginia. METHODS: Using a modified Dillman survey methodology a random sample of 548 pharmacists in West Virginia, approximately one-third the active roster, were surveyed regarding staffing and services in West Virginia. RESULTS: A response rate of 32.78% was achieved and findings indicated that there is a staffing shortage of pharmacists within West Virginia, that staffing impacts the services pharmacists provide, and that more pharmacists would be willing to offer disease management services if staffing levels were at appropriate levels. CONCLUSIONS: A shortage of pharmacists does exist in West Virginia and it has implications on patient care. Longitudinal evaluation of the impact of a new pharmacy program will be conducted and the staffing and services within West Virginia should be continued to be studied.

Female↗
PubMed2004

The organisation and development of primary care pharmacy in the United Kingdom.

Primary care pharmacists carry out clinical and administrative work directly for family doctors and primary care organisations. They are a relatively recent innovation and their role in the United Kingdom (UK)'s National Health Service (NHS) is still developing. The economic liberalization of the NHS in the 1990s seems to have provided a major stimulus for the growth of primary care pharmacy. The establishment of the new professional group was not linked to a deliberate plan or change in health policy with respect to pharmacist development. Primary care pharmacy practice is much more varied and flexible than traditional pharmacy practice in the community and hospitals. Standards and professional organisation for primary care pharmacy are slowly emerging. Modernization of the NHS is providing many new opportunities, which primary care pharmacists are well placed to take advantage of. Traditional community pharmacy faces many problems unless it can learn to develop alongside primacy care pharmacy. Pharmaceutical care is set to improve in the United Kingdom, but the precise nature of future services and providers remains uncertain.

Education, Pharmacy↗
PubMed1997

Scenario analysis of the future of clinical pharmacy.

The role of clinical pharmacy in the health care system is changing rapidly. This change is almost universal among different countries and is related to developments in medical technology, health economics, informatics, socio-economic status, and professional relations. Transitions to new systems of clinical pharmacy are difficult to anticipate. Even with well defined targets, it remains uncertain what the future of clinical pharmacy will bring us. The construction of plausible scenarios may help us better in preparing for the 'new world' ahead. At the annual congresses of ESCP in Prague 1995 (24th) and Lisbon 1996 (25th), a number of scenario analysis workshops with respect to the future of clinical pharmacy were organized. This paper gives a report of the results of these scenario sessions and reflects on the implications for future policy making. After we identified the driving forces behind the future of clinical pharmacy, various sets of assumptions were made and from them scenarios were constructed which are plausible: they 'could' happen. This analysis provided a logical framework in which we ultimately depicted three alternating stories of the future of clinical pharmacy, named 'CLERK', 'CONTROLLER' and 'CARE MANAGER'. These scenarios are intended to help clinical pharmacists to break free of familiar mental maps and to stimulate creative thinking on the future.

Education, Pharmacy↗
PubMed2004

Community pharmacy in Australia.

This article describes the evolution of community pharmacy in the Australian health system, and assesses its current and potential future contribution to health care. A central theme is the unique extent and accessibility of community pharmacy to the public, with a vast and dispersed infrastructure that is funded by private enterprise. The viability of community pharmacy as a retail trade depends on a diversification of its service roles and retention of its product-supply roles. Initiatives by the pharmacy profession, the pharmacy industry and the Australian Government are likely to give community pharmacy an increasingly prominent place in health promotion and primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, especially in relation to the management of chronic diseases.

Australia↗
PubMed1995

Comprehensive services in an ambulatory care pharmacy.

The development of a comprehensive model of pharmacy practice in an ambulatory care setting is described. From 1991 to 1994, the department of ambulatory care pharmacy services at The University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center converted its main outpatient pharmacy into a Pharmaceutical Care Center to serve as a model for community and hospital-based ambulatory care pharmacy services. The Pharmaceutical Care Center includes a waiting area, five private patient-assessment rooms, an examination room, a place for reviewing patient profiles and reference materials, space for storage and automation, an i.v. admixture area, a conference room, and office space. It serves 120-150 patients per day (10% just discharged from the hospital, 90% seen in the clinic system). Pharmacy clerkship students and residents, under the oversight of faculty, conduct patient assessments, educate patients and family, monitor outcomes, and intervene when drug-related problems are detected. Patient assessments and therapeutic interventions are documented in the patient's medical record. Computers, automated medication filling, and technical support are used to enable pharmacists to concentrate on patient care. A model ambulatory care pharmacy provides both drug distribution and direct patient care services.

Academic Medical Centers↗