Quality assurance in drug information and poison centers: a review.

As drug information and poison centers become more widely used by health professionals, quality assurance programs will be necessary to insure that a high standard of service is provided. Evaluation methods designed to assess the quality of drug information and poison centers have been reviewed and analyzed. Evaluation of the quality of verbal responses appears best accomplished by telephone evaluation. Committee review has been the most effective method to assess written responses. Evaluation of completed forms and internal review evaluations may function as good daily assessments of quality responses.