The effects of introducing a clinical pharmacist on orthopaedic wards in Denmark

Abstract

Clinical pharmacy services offered to four orthopaedic surgical wards resulted in reduction of sub-optimal prescriptions. Every time the pharmacist screened seven patients one sub-optimal prescription was found and adjusted. The reduction in medicine costs due to adjusted sub-optimal prescriptions could not cover the whole cost of clinical pharmacy service.

Drug-related problems: evaluation of a classification system in the daily practice of a Swiss University Hospital

“…Twenty-five percent of interventions had direct influence on drug costs, a similar rate to the study of McMullin with 26% [20]. A recent study from Denmark assessed the cost effects of a clinical pharmacist in a controlled prospective study [21]. Cost reductions resulted in 43% of the interventions with total savings of direct drug costs of 3442 € within one year.…”

Clinical pharmacist service in the acute ward

“…Other Danish studies have used written communication in the form of paper notes or entries into the medical record. These studies in general have a lower acceptance rate of 39-70 % [23,26,39,50]. In this perspective, the proposed method of prescription templates appears to be a good alternative to oral communication when the workflow or the time available limits the possibility of oral communication.…”

“…Clinical pharmacist services must be relevant and timely to meet this workflow. Projects involving the implementation of clinical pharmacy services in various Danish hospitals have evolved around three main areas; medication history, medication reconciliation and medication review [23][24][25][26]. The learning and results from these projects can form the basis for what a clinical pharmacist service could comprise in the acute ward.…”

Clinical benefits and economic impact of post-surgical care provided by pharmacists in a Canadian hospital

“…Published literature suggests pharmacists in a surgical preadmission clinic can reduce medication errors and improve documentation of drug allergies and drug interactions . Limited services, such as weekly chart reviews and health provider education, have also decreased medication errors and produced cost savings. Pharmacist‐managed antimicrobial prophylaxis programmes for surgical patients have been associated with decreased mortality rates, LOS and healthcare costs .…”