Evaluation of Pharmacist Utilization of a Poison Center as a Resource for Patient Care

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate pharmacist use of a Regional Poison Information Center (RPIC), identify potential barriers to utilization, and provide strategies to overcome these barriers. All calls placed to a RPIC by a pharmacist, physician, or nurse over a 5-year period were retrieved. These data were analyzed to assess the pharmacist utilization of the RPIC and the variation of call types. Additionally, a survey, designed to assess the past and future use of the RPIC by pharmacists, was distributed to pharmacists in the region. Of the 37,799 calls made to the RPIC, 26,367 (69.8%) were from nurses, 8096 (21.4%) were from physicians, and 3336 (8.8%) were from pharmacists. Among calls initiated by pharmacists, the majority involved medication identification (n = 2391, 71.7%). The survey had a 38.9% response rate (n = 715) and revealed a trend toward less RPIC utilization by pharmacists with more formal training but less practice experience. The utilization of the RPIC was lowest among pharmacists as compared to other health care professionals. This may be due to pharmacists' unfamiliarity with the poison center's scope of services and resources. Therefore, it is important that pharmacists are educated on the benefit of utilizing poison centers in clinical situations.

Onsite Versus Remote Working: The Impact on Satisfaction, Productivity, and Performance of Medical Call Center Workers

“…13 Usually, agents working in medical call centers mainly consist of physicians, psychiatrists, pharmacists, or nurses. 14 In general, the satisfaction rates among agents working in call centers were not very high and could depend on several factors that may include the job nature, workload, work management, type of customers, and even the marital and educational status of the workers. 15 In Europe, two previous studies showed that the mean satisfaction percentage of agents working in the call center was not more than 66%, which indicates moderate satisfaction.…”

Onsite versus remote working: the impact on satisfaction, productivity, and performance of medical call center workers

“…Medical call centers provide medical information and assistant to people to decrease hospital visits and to help in dealing with patients' various existing illnesses [22]. Usually, agents working in medical call centers mainly consist of physicians, psychiatrists, pharmacists, or nurses [23].…”