Monitoring of drug-drug and drug-food interactions.

A program for detecting and preventing potentially serious drug-drug and drug-food interactions is described. Two clinical pharmacists developed drug interaction alert (DIA) cards for each potential interaction to be monitored. The cards contain information about the proposed mechanism and potential result of the interaction, as well as information about how to monitor or circumvent the interaction. Staff pharmacists check for the occurrence of potential interactions daily as they verify the filling of the patient-medication cassettes; a poster of all the interactions that are included in the program is posted in each satellite pharmacy to serve as a quick reference for the pharmacists. When a pharmacist detects a potential interaction, he or she completes a DIA card and places it in the medication cassette drawer (if the notice is directed to the nurse) or on the front of the patient's chart (if the notice is directed to the physician). The program was introduced to hospital personnel through inservice education programs and departmental newsletters. The results of a quality assurance review indicated that 95 of 279 (34%) cards dispensed to nurses and 40 of 49 (82%) cards dispensed to physicians resulted in some form of action. The program to detect and prevent potentially serious drug-drug and drug-food interactions has been successful.