Medical education provided by a clinical pharmacist: impact on the use and cost of corticosteroid therapy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The impact of medical education provided by a clinical pharmacist on the use and cost of corticosteroid therapy in acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was evaluated. Three separate two-month audits of corticosteroid use were conducted on the pulmonary medicine service (PMS) of a teaching hospital. For the first audit period, no education was given and no clinical pharmacist was on the PMS. During the second audit period, no education was given, but a clinical pharmacist was on-service. For the third audit period, education (brief discussion and a handout) was given to new house staff members by the clinical pharmacist on the PMS. A significant reduction in the mean number of intravenous steroid doses, steroid cost per day, and patient steroid charges per day occurred in the third vs. the first period. Steroid cost per day and patient steroid charges per day were lower in the third period than the second, but the difference was not statistically significant.