OBJECTIVE: To describe the effect of integrating a pharmacist into the general practice team on the timeliness and completion of pharmacist-conducted medication reviews. METHOD: A pharmacist was integrated into an Australian inner-city suburb general practice medical centre to provide medication reviews for practice patients. A retrospective analysis of medication reviews with two time periods was conducted: pre-integration of the practice pharmacist and post-integration of the practice pharmacist. In an effort to obtain a measure of external validity the data were compared to data from the Division of General Practice in which the medical centre is located. KEY FINDINGS: There were 70 patients referred for medication review in the pre-integration phase and 314 patients referred in the post-integration phase. The time to complete the medication review process was significantly reduced from a median of 56 days to 20 days with a practice pharmacist. Prior to having a practice pharmacist 52% of patients did not have the service billed by the general practitioner, which was reduced to 6% during the post-integration phase. CONCLUSION: The results from this trial show that the integration of a pharmacist into the general practice team was associated with an increase in the timeliness and completion rate of medication reviews.
OBJECTIVE: To describe the effect of integrating a pharmacist into the general practice team on the timeliness and completion of pharmacist-conducted medication reviews. METHOD: A pharmacist was integrated into an Australian inner-city suburb general practice medical centre to provide medication reviews for practice patients. A retrospective analysis of medication reviews with two time periods was conducted: pre-integration of the practice pharmacist and post-integration of the practice pharmacist. In an effort to obtain a measure of external validity the data were compared to data from the Division of General Practice in which the medical centre is located. KEY FINDINGS: There were 70 patients referred for medication review in the pre-integration phase and 314 patients referred in the post-integration phase. The time to complete the medication review process was significantly reduced from a median of 56 days to 20 days with a practice pharmacist. Prior to having a practice pharmacist 52% of patients did not have the service billed by the general practitioner, which was reduced to 6% during the post-integration phase. CONCLUSION: The results from this trial show that the integration of a pharmacist into the general practice team was associated with an increase in the timeliness and completion rate of medication reviews.
Authors: Pui San Saw; Lisa M Nissen; Christopher Freeman; Pei Se Wong; Vivienne Mak Journal: Patient Prefer Adherence Date: 2015-03-19 Impact factor: 2.711
Authors: A Kiiski; M Airaksinen; A Mäntylä; S Desselle; A Kumpusalo-Vauhkonen; T Järvensivu; M Pohjanoksa-Mäntylä Journal: BMC Geriatr Date: 2019-11-21 Impact factor: 3.921