A pharmacy intervention program: recognizing pharmacy's contribution to improving patient care

An on-line pharmacy intervention program developed to document and evaluate pharmacist's contribution to patient care is described. Over a 1-year period, the number and types of interventions and their impact on patient care were collated and reviewed by a clinical coordinator. Two thousand four hundred ninety-nine interventions were recorded. The most common types of interventions were order clarification/change (18%), pharmacokinetic consult (16%), chart review (13%), restricted drug follow-up (8%), discharge medication screen (7%), initiate drug therapy (6%), drug information (5%), discontinued drug (4%), and therapeutic alternative (4%). There were 3459 impact codes assigned to these interventions. Forty-one percent decreased toxicity, 35% increased efficacy, 17% decreased cost, 16% avoided allergy or drug interaction, 8% improved compliance, and 22% were classified as other. Our analysis found that pharmacy interventions elevated the standard of care and prevented major organ damage and potentially life-threatening events. This program shows that pharmacists play a significant role in improving patient outcomes.