A Dedicated Outpatient Pharmacy Improves Access to Discharge Medications in a Pediatric Emergency Department: A Quality Improvement Study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Following discharge from a pediatric emergency department (ED) or urgent care, many families do not pick up their prescribed medications. The aim of this quality improvement study was to increase the percentage of patients discharged home with medications in-hand from 6% to 30% within 6 months. METHODS: Due to the planned construction of a new ED, urgent care, and dedicated pharmacy, a multidisciplinary team was formed to increase access to discharge medications. We performed a pilot study in the urgent care to improve the discharge prescription process and expanded its scope to the ED. We evaluated the effect of our interventions on the percentage of patients discharged with medications in-hand through statistical process control charts. Process measures included the percentage of prescriptions electronically prescribed and directed to an on-site pharmacy. RESULTS: Between June 21, 2021 and March 27, 2022, 7,678 patients were discharged with at least 1 medication in-hand. The percentage of patients discharged with medications in-hand increased from 6.2% to 60.6%. The percentage of prescriptions e-prescribed and directed to an on-site pharmacy increased to 94.6% and 65.6% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the availability of a 24-hour on-site pharmacy appears to be the most impactful intervention increasing access to discharge medications for families. Other interventions, such as a pilot study in the urgent care and implementing default electronic prescribing, may have potentiated the effect of the new pharmacy.

Clinical Pharmacist-Led Impact on Inappropriate Albumin Utilization and Associated Costs in General Ward Patients.

BACKGROUND: Inappropriate albumin use in clinical practice remains problematic. Health-systems face continued challenges in promoting cost-appropriate use. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical and economic impact of a clinical pharmacist-led intervention strategy targeting inappropriate albumin use in general ward patients. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study evaluated all adult (≥18 years) general ward patients administered ≥1 dose of albumin at a university medical center over a 2-year period. The intervention consisted of a clinical pharmacist-led strategy intervening on all albumin orders not in accordance with institutional guidelines. The primary end point was to compare inappropriate albumin utilization before and after implementation. Secondary end points compared the rates of inappropriate albumin use adjusted for hospital admission and patient-days as well as associated costs by appropriateness between study periods. RESULTS: A total of 4420 patients were screened, with 1971 (44.6%) patients meeting inclusion criteria. The clinical pharmacist strategy significantly reduced inappropriate albumin (grams) utilization by 86.0% (P < 0.001). A 7-fold reduction of inappropriate albumin administered adjusted for the number of patient admissions was found from the preimplementation period following clinical pharmacist intervention strategy implementation (415.3 ± 83.2 vs 57.5 ± 34.2 g per 100 general ward hospital admissions, respectively; P < 0.001). Also, the adjusted inappropriate albumin rate was reduced from 62.2 ± 12.3 to 8.6 ± 5.2 g per 100 patient-days in the preimplementation and postimplementation periods, respectively (P < 0.001). Annual cost savings were $421 455 overall, with $341 930 resulting from mitigation of inappropriate use. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: Clinical pharmacist-led interventions significantly reduced inappropriate albumin use and costs in hospitalized patients.

Skin disorder management in oral anticancer drugs by collaboration of hospital pharmacists and community pharmacists.

BACKGROUND: In Japan, the multidisciplinary team approach in cancer chemotherapy has become quite widespread. However, patients treated with oral anticancer drugs in outpatient clinics usually receive short medical examinations from doctors without any intervention of pharmacists. To improve this medical circumstance, we made a skin disorder manual for community pharmacists and evaluated its feasibility. METHODS: Patients who underwent oral skin toxic chemotherapy from May 1, 2017, to October 31, 2017, were enrolled. The severity of skin toxicities was evaluated based on NCI-CTCAE ver4.0. Skin care and skin disorders were assessed by community pharmacists based on the assessment document arranged by the investigator. Numbers of patients who replied to the assessment, numbers of replies, numbers of assessments and instructions for skin care, and numbers of prescription proposals were evaluated to assess the value of intervention of community pharmacists. RESULTS: Sixty-two patients were enrolled in this study. Community pharmacy responded to 55 patients (88.7%), for a total of 335 replies. The data described in the replies were as follows: 317 assessments of skin disorders (94.6%), 307 assessments of skin care (91.6%), 248 instructions for skin care (74%), and 19 prescription proposals (5.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Community pharmacists have high motivation for prevention and early detection of skin disorders. Although the number of prescription proposals is small, some proposals have contributed to improving side effects. Collaboration of hospital pharmacists and community pharmacists is important for prevention, early detection, and treatment of skin disorders caused by oral anticancer drugs.

Impact of interventions targeting the inappropriate use of proton-pump inhibitors by clinical pharmacists in a hepatobiliary surgery department.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: At present, studies on the usage of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) have universal significance. In clinical practice, PPIs are widely used to treat a variety of acid-related diseases, but they can be inappropriately prescribed, leading to increased medical costs and patient harm. The study comprehensively evaluated the clinical effects of a clinical pharmacist intervention on inappropriate PPI prescriptions in a tertiary general hospital hepatobiliary surgery ward. METHODS: A retrospective, single-centre intervention study covering the periods of July-December 2018 and July-December 2019 was conducted. In the intervention group, clinical pharmaceutical care was initiated by a clinical pharmacist in the hepatobiliary surgery ward. Outcomes, including the clinical pattern of PPI utilization, the rate of inappropriate PPI use and safety outcomes, were compared between the two periods. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In total, 1150 patients were admitted to the hepatobiliary surgery ward in our hospital in the study periods. Of these, 717 patients met the inclusion criteria for this study, and 420 and 297 patients were included in the preintervention and post-intervention groups, respectively. The PPI utilization rates before and after the intervention were 82.0% and 55.0%, respectively. The rates of inappropriate PPI use before and after the intervention were 48.9 and 22.7 per 100 patient-days, respectively. Clinical safety outcomes were nearly identical between before and after the intervention, but patients treated with PPIs were more likely to experience nosocomial pneumonia (2.4% vs. 0.6%). WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: The implementation of a clinical pharmacist intervention for PPI use decreased inappropriate PPI use during hospitalization without sacrificing clinical safety outcomes.

Clinical pharmacy interventions in intensive care unit patients.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: The drug therapy of critically ill patients requires intensive evaluation and management due to their severity of illness. These patients often require complex medication regimens. This study analysed the pharmaceutical care provided by clinical pharmacists (CPs) in a single medical centre in Taiwan. In addition, we explored the drug-related problems (DRPs) experienced by patients in intensive care units (ICUs) to determine how to improve the quality and safety of drug therapy. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted from February 2019 to January 2020. The CPs implemented Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) Scheme for Improving Hospital Drug Safety and Quality programme to improve the safety and quality of drug therapy. The CPs included in the study had at least 2 years' clinical experience and had participated in an ICU team for at least 6 consecutive months. They provided individualized drug treatment evaluation and intervention. Content of care was documented in the Clinical Pharmacy Service Record. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A total of 4374 pharmacy care records were evaluated by 12 CPs. The major category of ICU pharmaceutical care was medication reconciliation (n = 2938; 67.2%). Most of the medication interventions were for errors in dosing or dosing frequency (n = 218; 55.8%). Patients with renal dysfunction required more pharmaceutical interventions than did patients with normal renal function (odds ratio = 1.63; 95% confidence interval 1.31-2.01). The main interventions were related to antimicrobial agents (n = 386; 81.3%). During the study period, 99.2% of interventions were accepted and 90.8% were changed within 24 hours. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Increased pharmaceutical interventions for patients with renal dysfunction compared with patients with normal renal function were observed. Most cases of inappropriate frequency of dosing or dosing of antimicrobial agents required intervention.

Pharmacist-led, prescription intervention system-assisted feedback to reduce prescribing errors: A retrospective study.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Prescribing errors are prevalent in hospital settings, with provision of feedback recommended to support prescribing by doctors. To evaluate the impact of a pharmacist-led prescription intervention system on prescribing error rates and to measure intervention efficiency. METHODS: All prescribers in Shandong Provincial Third Hospital received feedback from ward pharmacists using a pharmacist-led prescription intervention system. The prescribing error rate was calculated from Oct 2019 to December 2020. After the intervention was applied, the rates of PASS 1 (System pass), PASS 2 (Pharmacist pass) and PASS 3 (Pharmacist-doctor pass) events and the feedback time were calculated each month. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Irrational use of drugs was reduced and the prescription rate increased significantly. The error rate reduced from 6.94% to 1.96%, representing an estimated 71.76% decrease overall (p < 0.05). The PASS 1 rate gradually increased from 88% to 96% (p < 0.05), the PASS 2 rate gradually decreased from 5.06% to 2.04% (p < 0.05), the PASS 3 rate gradually decreased from 6.94% to 1.96% (p < 0.05). WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: The pharmacist-led prescription intervention system has the potential to reduce prescribing errors and improve prescribing outcomes and patient safety.

Pharmaceutical care in Chinese public tertiary hospitals: findings from the 4th National Healthcare Improvement Initiative Survey.

BACKGROUND: Pharmaceutical care has been playing an increasingly critical role in Chinese hospitals. However, evidence about the most recent development of pharmaceutical care in China is limited. This study analyzed the current situation of pharmaceutical care and the capacities of pharmacists in Chinese public tertiary hospitals. METHODS: All on-duty pharmacists of 143 public tertiary hospitals responded to the Likert-5 pre-set online questionnaire about their pharmaceutical care capacities in eight aspects, and their respective hospitals valued pharmaceutical care in clinical practice from March 18 to 31, 2019. This study measured the appraisals of the responding pharmacists as positive ("strongly agree" and "agree") or negative ("neither agree nor disagree," "strongly disagree," and "disagree") results. The study performed a descriptive analysis of the responding pharmacists and unconditional multivariate binary logistic regression analysis to predict the influencing factors of the pharmacists' appraisals of pharmaceutical care. The dependent variable was transformed into binary categories and assigned 1 = positive response and 0 = negative response. The independent variables included the identifications of sample hospitals and the characteristics of the responding pharmacists. RESULTS: The survey retrieved 10 815 valid responded questionnaires. 74.5%, 67.5%, and 65.0% of the responding pharmacists made a positive self-appraisal of their abilities of communication with patients and doctors, reviewing prescriptions, and communication with particular patients, respectively. 65.5% had a positive appraisal of their respective hospitals to conduct active monitoring of the clinical use of new medicines, and 68.9% admitted that their respective hospitals valued the clinical pharmaceutical care. The doctor's degree and senior academic rank of the responding pharmacists, as well as maternal and child hospitals, were predictors of higher appraisals of the responding pharmacists about their pharmaceutical care capacities, and their respective hospitals valued pharmaceutical care (all ORs > 1.5, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The study suggested that there is a need to strengthen the pharmacy education, training, and staffing of pharmacists with improved professional skills to offer value-added specialized pharmaceutical care in Chinese public hospitals. Patient-centered and inter-disciplinary interactions in medical practice should be promoted. There is also a need for public hospitals to provide a platform for the achievement of the professional values of high-quality pharmacists at different carrier development stages.

Safe vincristine use in Switzerland: Still a long way to go?

BACKGROUND: Different international organizations recommend safety measures for the use of vincristine to prevent wrong route administrations. A central recommendation is to use infusion bags instead of syringes to prevent confusion with intrathecal chemotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the implementation of safety measures for vincristine and intrathecal chemotherapies in Switzerland. METHOD: We conducted a written survey among hospital pharmacies of all general care and pediatric hospitals in Switzerland (n = 102). A responsible person of each hospital pharmacy was invited by email to participate in the online survey in May 2018. RESULTS: Of 66 responding hospitals (response rate 65%), 27 have a hospital pharmacy preparing parenteral chemotherapy. All of these hospitals prepared vincristine in 2017, while 21 also prepared intrathecal chemotherapy. Of these 21, 16 hospitals prepared vincristine as syringes, with small volume syringes being the most widely distributed dosage form. A switch from syringes to infusion bags was discussed in seven hospitals, and discussions led to plans for switch in two. The most prevalent safety measures were labeling for vincristine and special delivery for intrathecal drugs. Of hospitals preparing both vincristine syringes and intrathecal chemotherapy, four reported to have no safety measures implemented neither for vincristine nor for intrathecal chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: International recommendations are not widely implemented in Swiss hospitals. Syringes are still in use and other safety measures are sparsely disseminated. Thus, Swiss vincristine patients are still at an increased risk for wrong route application. Recommendations have to be further disseminated and implementation could be enhanced.

Managing conflicts of interest in pharmacy and therapeutics committees: A proposal for multicentre formulary development.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: While many countries have central agencies responsible for formulary development, within the United States, each hospital, health care system, or insurance provider has their own pharmacy and therapeutic committee, leading to both inefficiencies and inequalities across formularies. The number and variety of processes within pharmacy and therapeutic committees also increases the likelihood that conflicts of interest will influence the development of formularies. We sought to determine how such influences could be reduced by reviewing international evidence related to the presence and harms of conflicts of interest in formulary development. METHODS: Several approaches have been taken to reduce the influence of conflicts of interest in pharmacy and therapeutics committee processes, including include disclosure, recusal, exclusion, universal consideration and dual committees. The feasibility of each of these approaches is considered in the context of the United States. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A proposal is drawn from the discussion of various approaches to conflicts of interest in pharmacy and therapeutics committees: multicenter formulary development. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Multicentre formulary development, where resources are pooled across institutions, may lead to a reduction in the influence of conflicts of interest in pharmacy and therapeutics committee processes in the United States, increasing the chances of including the most safe, efficacious and cost-effective drugs on formularies.

Benefit of Incorporating Clinical Pharmacists in an Adult Intensive Care Unit: A Cost-saving Study.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: A framework to evaluate the impact of clinical pharmacists in intensive care units (ICUs) in Chile has not yet been established. This study evaluates the cost avoidance and cost-benefit ratios of clinical pharmacist interventions in terms of treatment optimization in an adult ICU in southern Chile. METHODS: Clinical pharmacist interventions in a multidisciplinary adult ICU were assessed between January and December 2019. Only interventions suggested by pharmacists and accepted by the healthcare team were included in the analysis. Interventions were classified into six categories, and cost avoidance (in US dollars) was calculated for each category using a systematic validated approach. A cost-benefit ratio for clinical pharmacy services in the adult ICU was also calculated. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Over the 12-month period, 505 interventions were performed in 169 patients, of whom 62% were male. Interventions were classified into the following six categories: adverse drug event prevention (18%), which led to $87 882 in savings; resource utilization (ie change in medication route) (10%), which led to $50 525 in savings; individualization of patient care (ie dose adjustment) (36%), which led to $57 089 in savings; prophylaxis (ie initiation of stress ulcer prophylaxis) (<1%), which led to $167 in savings; hands-on care (ie bedside monitoring) (23%), which led to $57 846 in savings; and administrative and supportive tasks (ie patient own medication evaluation) (13%), which led to $9988 in savings. The total cost savings over the year-long period were $263 500, resulting in a cost-benefit ratio of 1:24.2. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: The participation of a clinical pharmacist in a multidisciplinary ICU team reduces healthcare expenditures through treatment optimization translated into cost avoidance. This study has corroborated prior evidence that clinical pharmacist involvement in ICUs provides economic value and quality assurance in healthcare settings.

Evaluation of a Pharmacy-to-Dose Pneumococcal Vaccination Protocol at an Academic Medical Center.

BACKGROUND: In February 2016, a pharmacy-to-dose (PTD) pneumococcal vaccination protocol was implemented to aid in the appropriate selection of pneumococcal vaccines. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to compare the rate of appropriate vaccine ordering with the PTD protocol. Secondary objectives were to assess vaccine administration rate and determine factors preventing patients from receiving the vaccine after appropriate selection. METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective cohort study of adult patients admitted to an inpatient service. Eligible patients were 19 years of age or older and had either a PTD pneumococcal vaccination order placed or an alert triggered indicating that the patient was a candidate for a vaccination. Patients were excluded if they had contraindications to receiving either pneumococcal vaccine. The Fisher exact test was used to evaluate the primary objective, and descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the secondary objectives. RESULTS: A total of 327 patients were included in the analysis: 167 in the preprotocol cohort and 160 in the postprotocol cohort. The correct vaccine ordering rates were found to be 26.9% (45/167) and 83.1% (133/160) in the preprotocol and postprotocol cohorts, respectively ( P < 0.001). In the postprotocol cohort, 17.5% (28/160) of patients did not have a vaccine administered. Reasons for vaccine administration failure were identified as patient refusal, patient expired during admission, vaccine not dispensed by pharmacy, and vaccine dispensed by pharmacy but returned. CONCLUSIONS: The PTD pneumococcal vaccination protocol significantly improved correct vaccine ordering rates.

Pharmacy Technicians Are People, Too! Let's Consider Their Personal Outcomes Along With Other Pharmacy Outcomes.

Studies have found that expanded pharmacy technician roles can help "free up" pharmacist time, leading to role optimization. However, these studies and the positions taken by many are quite pharmacist-centric. We seem to have underestimated the importance of support staff in pharmacy operations. If research demonstrates that technicians can perform a function safely and effectively, that alone should compel the function's allowance in practice. Freeing up pharmacist time for higher-order care is a positive corollary to technician advancement, but it need not be a precondition for it.

Evaluation of Targeted Pharmacist Interventions to Reduce Length of Stay in an Acute Care Practice Model.

BACKGROUND: Despite widespread recognition of the need for innovative pharmacy practice approaches, the development and implementation of value-based outcomes remains difficult to achieve. Furthermore, gaps in the literature persist because the majority of available literature is retrospective in nature and describes only the clinical impact of pharmacists' interventions. OBJECTIVE: Length of stay (LOS) is a clinical outcome metric used to represent efficiency in health care. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of pharmacist-driven interventions on LOS in the acute care setting. METHODS: A separate samples pretest-posttest design was utilized to compare the effect of pharmacist interventions across 3 practice areas (medicine, hematology/oncology, and pediatrics). Two time periods were evaluated: preimplementation (PRE) and a pilot period, postimplementation of interventions (POST). Interventions included targeted discharge services, such as discharge prescription writing (with provider cosignature). Participating pharmacists completed semistructured interviews following the pilot. RESULTS: A total of 924 patients (466 PRE and 458 POST) were included in the analysis. The median LOS decreased from 4.95 (interquartile range = 3.24-8.5) to 4.12 (2.21-7.96) days from the PRE versus POST groups, respectively ( P < 0.011). There was no difference in readmission rates between groups (21% vs 19.1%, P = 0.7). Interviews revealed several themes, including positive impact on professional development. Conclusion and Relevance: This pilot study demonstrated the ability of pharmacist interventions to reduce LOS. Pharmacists identified time as the primary barrier and acknowledged the importance of leaders prioritizing pharmacists' responsibilities. This study is novel in targeting LOS, providing a value-based outcome for clinical pharmacy services.

Technical efficiency and its influencing factors in Malaysian hospital pharmacy services.

Various pharmacy services are offered in public health facilities, ranging from distributive activities (dispensing) to patient-oriented services (pharmaceutical care). These activities are monitored through indicators established at the national level. In Malaysia, the indicators have not been transformed into a measurement of hospital pharmacy service efficiency. The main objectives of this study were to assess the relative performance of hospital pharmacy services and to investigate the factors that may affect the performance levels. Double-bootstrap data envelopment analysis was applied to measure the technical efficiency levels of 124 public hospital pharmacies in 2014. An input-oriented variable returns to scale model was adopted in the study, while bootstrap truncated regression was conducted to identify the factors that may explain the differences in the efficiency levels. The average bias-corrected technical efficiency score varies according to the hospital size (0.84, 0.78 and 0.82 in small, medium and large hospitals, respectively). The hospital size, hospital age, urban location and information technology are important determinants of the efficiency levels. The study contributes to establishing baseline technical efficiency information for public hospital pharmacy services in Malaysia. The measurement of hospital pharmacy efficiency can guide future policy making to improve performance and ensure the optimum level of available resources.

A virtual centralized cytotoxic preparation unit simulation to evaluate the pharmacy staff knowledge.

BACKGROUND: The risk of medication errors related to drug preparation unit cannot be totally avoided because of human interference. The aim of this study is to investigate the background and knowledge of the pharmacy staff by replicating the cytotoxic preparation unit with potential errors. METHODS: A 10-m2 room was provided to duplicate the centralized chemotherapy unit with three areas reproducing virtually the equipment preparation bench, the isolator, and the dispensing bench. The 14 situations selected by experts were integrated to each corresponded area. For each participant, a form was given and answers were analyzed by two independent experts. Statistical processing data were performed using GraphPad Prism® software. RESULTS: A total of 19 professionals participated in error simulation workshop over a one-month period. The overall rate of correct responses was 58 ± 19%. In five situations, correct responses rate was lower than 50%: wrong drug batch related to the preparation sheet (40%), inappropriate sterilizing conditions (15%), the time on the preparation sheet provides an expired expiry date for melphalan preparation (45%), a maximum drug dose exceeded (25%), the dispensing form not corresponds to the preparation sheet and final product label (30%). The rate of correct responses was 45 ± 25% for professionals not specifically dedicated to chemotherapy preparation. The overall satisfaction workshop rate was 8.7 ± 1.0 out of 10. CONCLUSION: This study showed the importance of training programs to sensitize personal staff to the risks of chemotherapy preparation and prevent errors.

Pharmacy workload benchmarking: Establishing a health-system outpatient infusion productivity metric.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Current productivity assessment models lack the ability to measure the quality of pharmacy services through workload validation. The goal of our efforts was to create a model to more accurately assess workload at multiple outpatient infusion centers. METHOD: Current procedural terminology codes were identified as representative of the key drivers of pharmacy workload. Fourteen current procedural terminology codes representing medication orders were selected and categorized into eight distinctive groups associated with varying amounts of pharmacy workload. A three-month average of current procedural terminology volumes were calculated and used to create a workload baseline. RESULTS: Our study found a usable productivity assessment and coefficient to compare relevant clinical workload across outpatient oncology sites. The current procedural terminology codes were readily retrievable from our system electronic medical record. By assigning activities, e.g. clinical review, verification, barcoding, batch preparation, we were able to compute a workload and then adjust staffing to achieve a median coefficient across sites. DISCUSSION: This study evaluated the use of administration current procedural terminology codes for an outpatient oncology productivity model. Based upon our analysis, it can be successfully used to determine workload for pharmacists and technicians across variable locations. We believe it is the first study to demonstrate a productivity model for this setting.

A clinical pharmacy pilot within a Precision Medicine Program for cancer patients and review of related pharmacist clinical practice.

PURPOSE: The implementation, benefits, and challenges of clinical pharmacist services within a Precision Medicine Program for cancer patients are described. By relating the practice model that was developed, this report may further encourage pharmacists at cancer centers nationally to be involved and lead precision-based care in the oncology setting. SUMMARY: A clinical pharmacist was integrated into a Precision Medicine Program for oncology patients using somatic testing to identify actionable mutations and apply targeted therapy to malignancies. This pharmacist served as a drug resource for the program's molecular tumor board and oncologists seeking precision-based oncologic strategies. The pharmacist was a facilitator of drug assistance and dispensing in collaboration with the specialty pharmacy and provided care to 14 oncology patients receiving precision-based therapies. The clinical pharmacist was readily accepted as an addition to the team by both oncologists and patients and the experience served as an important learning opportunity. CONCLUSION: The success of integrating this precision medicine pharmacist into a newly formed Precision Medicine Program and the model it can serve as may be considered for other cancer centers that may or may not have easily accessible pharmacogenomic experts and resources. This service highlights the importance of pharmacist care in such a program and the various opportunities for integration. Oncology clinical pharmacists should seek to integrate into Precision Medicine Programs and systems directing this care and develop their knowledge and understanding of genomics to continue providing the highest level of cancer care as a pivotal member of the cancer care team.

Creation and evaluation of a cancer chemotherapy order review guide for use at a community hospital.

The proper evaluation of cancer chemotherapy orders is necessary for patients to receive safe and effective treatment. The chemotherapy treatment setting is evolving resulting in hospital pharmacists without extensive oncology training or experience now being responsible for evaluation of chemotherapy orders. The primary objective was to create a step-by-step chemotherapy order evaluation guide with a detailed explanation for each step. The secondary objective was to evaluate non-oncology trained pharmacists' ability to accurately review simulated chemotherapy orders post-education using the guide. A two-page chemotherapy order evaluation guide was created based on an accepted method of chemotherapy order review consisting of the following eight steps: regimen verification, clinical trial protocol verification, body surface area calculation, dose calculation, laboratory values, emesis prophylaxis, adjunctive or supportive care measures, and pharmacy labels. A literature search was performed for each step. A detailed explanation for each step was written as a separate component from the guide to encompass the literature search information and current guidelines in a more comprehensive manner. Non-oncology trained community hospital pharmacists were educated on use of the guide for approximately 30 min. The guide was evaluated using timed simulated chemotherapy orders pre- and post-education consisting of a general chemotherapy order and a carboplatin dosing order. Nineteen pharmacists were tested with simulated chemotherapy orders. A significant difference was detected between the pre- and post-education for both the general chemotherapy (p = 0.00032) order and carboplatin dosing order (p = 0.031).

Implementation and evaluation of medicine and therapeutic information service by clinical pharmacists in oncology care setting.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to explore the role of clinical pharmacists in providing medicine and therapeutic information service in oncology care setting. METHODS: It was a prospective study conducted for a period of three years after implementation of medicine and therapeutic information service as an integral part of oncology pharmacy services. The medicine and therapeutic information queries were received during ward rounds, at ambulatory care and via telephone by clinical pharmacists. All the medicine and therapeutic information requests were reviewed and answered to the concerned requester(s). Answered medicine and therapeutic information requests were electronically documented in the hospital drug information database and analyzed further. RESULTS: A total of 484 medicine and therapeutic information requests were received by clinical pharmacists during period of August 2013 to June 2016. Majority of medicine and therapeutic information queries were requested by radiation oncologists (27.2%) followed by medical oncologists (26.4%), general physicians (14.04%), resident medical officers (11.7%), ambulatory care nurses (8.6%), in-patient nurses (5.1%) and patients and care takers (6.6%). Majority of the medicine and therapeutic information queries were asked for the purpose of improving patient care (48.3%) followed by to update knowledge (30.9%) and training sessions to nurses (6.6%). The most common categories of medicine and therapeutic information were adverse drug reactions and its management (21.4%) followed by dosage adjustments of chemotherapy and biologicals (15.5%), supportive care related (14.6%), contraindications (14%), drug-drug interactions (11.9%), management of co-morbidities (7.8%), chemotherapy selection in special populations (4.5%). CONCLUSION: The provision of medicine and therapeutic information was found to be useful in providing medicine information to improve patient care and to update knowledge of health care professionals at the study hospital.

A centralized automated-dispensing system in a French teaching hospital: return on investment and quality improvement.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the return on investment (ROI) and quality improvement after implementation of a centralized automated-dispensing system after 8 years of use. DESIGN: Prospective evaluation of ROI; before and after study to evaluate dispensing errors; user satisfaction questionnaire after 8 years of use. SETTING: The study was conducted at a French teaching hospital in the pharmacy department, which is equipped with decentralized automated medication cabinets in the wards. PARTICIPANTS: Pharmacy staff (technicians and residents). INTERVENTION(S): Implementation of a centralized automated-dispensing robot. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The true ROI was prospectively and annually compared to estimated returns calculated after implementation and upgrade of the robot; dispensing errors determined by observation of global deliveries and the satisfaction of users based on a validated questionnaire were evaluated. RESULTS: Following the upgrade, we found little difference for the ROI (+1.86%). The payback period increased by almost 3 years. There was a significant reduction of dispensing errors, from 2.9% to 1.7% (P < 0.001). User satisfaction of the robot by the pharmacy staff was reported (score of 5.52 ± 1.20 out of 7). CONCLUSIONS: These systems are worthwhile investments and largely contribute to improving the quality and safety of the medication process.