Impact of clinical pharmacists in the emergency department of an Australian public hospital: a before and after study

Proper, John S., Wong, Annie, Plath, Alice E., Grant, Kirsty A., Just, Derek W., and Dulhunty, Joel M. (2015) Impact of clinical pharmacists in the emergency department of an Australian public hospital: a before and after study. Emergency Medicine Australasia, 27 (3). pp. 232-238.

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Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of an ED pharmacy service on ED clinical staff and hospital pharmacist activity.

Methods: A prospective study measuring pharmacist activities and surveying ED staff attitudes and experience before and after commencement of an ED pharmacy service.

Results: There were 2275 and 2072 hospital-wide pharmacist occasions of service recorded over a 1 month period before and after implementation of the ED pharmacy service, respectively; 339 (16.4%) of these occurred in the ED post-implementation. ED pharmacists most commonly were involved in obtaining medication histories (74% of ED occasions of service); 43% of all pharmacist-performed medication histories occurred in the ED. Post-implementation of the service, 26% of medication interventions occurred in the ED with the number of medication errors identified by ward pharmacists decreasing by 11%; 59% of ED pharmacist medication interventions were clinically significant. ED clinicians perceived the greatest impact of the service to be on patient education and medication safety. Qualitative feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Conclusions: Pharmacy staff can rapidly become a vital component of clinical service provision in the ED, contributing to medication safety from the point of patient entry into the hospital and impacting ED clinicians and whole of hospital activity for pharmacists.

Item ID: 41661
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1742-6723
Keywords: medication safety, pharmacist, survey
Funders: Redcliffe Hospital Private Practice Trust Fund
Projects and Grants: Education Grant. Redcliffe Hospital
Date Deposited: 08 Dec 2015 15:19
FoR Codes: 11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1115 Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences > 111503 Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice @ 60%
11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1115 Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences > 111502 Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics @ 20%
11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1103 Clinical Sciences > 110305 Emergency Medicine @ 20%
SEO Codes: 92 HEALTH > 9202 Health and Support Services > 920204 Evaluation of Health Outcomes @ 50%
92 HEALTH > 9202 Health and Support Services > 920299 Health and Support Services not elsewhere classified @ 50%
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