Clinical decision rules and measuring renal function in community pharmacy: what do we get out of it?

OBJECTIVE To investigate the frequency and management of drug therapy alerts about drug use in patients with (potential) renal impairment, to investigate the contribution of point-of-care testing (PoCT) of renal function in community pharmacy to the availability of information on renal function, and to investigate pharmacists’ experiences with drug therapy alerts and PoCT. DESIGN AND METHODS A clinical decision support system with clinical decision rules for eleven drugs (seven antibiotics, sotalol, digoxin, allopurinol and spironolactone) and PoCT of renal function were implemented in community pharmacies. The clinical decision rules generated an alert when dose adjustment was advised based on a registered impaired renal function, and when information on the renal function was lacking for patients over 70 years of age with a prescription for one of the selected drugs. Data registered in the clinical decision support system regarding generated alerts, renal functions and alert management were analysed retrospectively. In addition, the participating pharmacists filled out a questionnaire about their experiences. RESULTS 336 pharmacists managed 27.307 alerts for 21.494 patients, leading to 362 dose adjustments and 65 drug replacements. For 16.208 of these patients, renal function has been registered in the clinical decision support system, including over 400 PoCT measurements. Based on PoCT, 25 cases of impaired renal function have been registered, leading to two therapy adjustments. The participating pharmacists were positive about the project. CONCLUSION Advanced clinical decision rules on renal function led to over 400 therapy adjustments. PoCT is a potentially useful source of information on renal function in a limited number of cases, when this information is urgently needed and not available from other sources

Clinical decision rules and measuring renal function in community pharmacy: what do we get out of it?

OBJECTIVE To investigate the frequency and management of drug therapy alerts about drug use in patients with (potential) renal impairment, to investigate the contribution of point- of-care testing (PoCT) of renal function in community pharmacy to the availability of information on renal function, and to investigate pharmacists' experiences with drug therapy alerts and PoCT. DESIGN AND METHODS A clinical decision support system with clinical decision rules for eleven drugs (seven antibiotics, sotalol, digoxin, allopurinol and spironolactone) and PoCT of renal function were implemented in community pharmacies. The clinical decision rules generated an alert when dose adjustment was advised based on a registered impaired renal function, and when information on the renal function was lacking for patients over 70 years of age with a prescription for one of the selected drugs. Data registered in the clinical decision support system regarding generated alerts, renal functions and alert management were analysed retrospectively. In addition, the participating pharmacists filled out a questionnaire about their experiences. RESULTS 336 pharmacists managed 27.307 alerts for 21.494 patients, leading to 362 dose adjustments and 65 drug replacements. For 16.208 of these patients, renal function has been registered in the clinical decision support system, including over 400 PoCT measurements. Based on PoCT, 25 cases of impaired renal function have been registered, leading to two therapy adjustments. The participating pharmacists were positive about the project. CONCLUSION Advanced clinical decision rules on renal function led to over 400 therapy adjustments. PoCT is a potentially useful source of information on renal function in a limited number of cases, when this information is urgently needed and not available from other sources

Large scale implementation of clinical medication reviews in Dutch community pharmacies: Drug-related problems and interventions

Background: Research on the benefits of clinical medication reviews (CMRs) performed by pharmacists has been conducted mostly in controlled settings and has been widely published. Less is known of the effects after large scale implementation in community pharmacies. An online CMR tool enabled the systematic registration of drug-related problems (DRPs) and implemented interventions derived from CMRs in daily practice. Objective: To describe the effects of CMRs on pharmacy practice after large-scale implementation in the Netherlands. Setting: 268 community pharmacies. Pharmacists were trained on CMRs with a patient centred approach. Method: Retrospective analyses of DRPs, pharmacists' proposals and implemented interventions recorded between January 1st and September 1st 2012. Main outcome measure: Frequencies of DRPs, intervention proposals, implemented interventions, and drugs involved. Results: 4,579 CMRs were analysed. On average 2.9 (SD 2.1) DRPs per review were identified. 4,123 (31 %) of the DRPs led to medication changes. Stopping a drug (16 %) was more frequent than starting a drug (8.1 %). Drugs related to cardiovascular risk management, diabetes and osteoporosis were most frequently involved. Conclusion: This study is the largest analysis of pharmacists- initiated CMRs in the Netherlands to date. The findings demonstrate the potential to reduce medication-related errors through pharmacist involvements in complex pharmacotherapy and the positive impact on the quality of drug therapy through making necessary medication changes. The data also support the need for large-scale implementation of pharmacists-initiated CMRs in the presence of proper training programmes. © 2014 Koninklijke Nederlandse Maatschappij ter bevordering der Pharmacie