Organizing for drug-usage evaluation

Because QA is the chief interest of the Joint Commission, hospital pharmacists must strive to have a well-organized DUE plan and process. However, merely satisfying a Joint Commission surveyor is not a good enough reason to invest in the DUE process. DUE is deceptively complex and labor intensive for hospital and medical staff alike. A better reason to plunge into DUE is to enable pharmacists to concurrently monitor pharmacotherapy, to intervene on behalf of patients, and to positively affect patients' therapeutic outcomes. Thereby, DUE really fits pharmacy's responsibility for pharmaceutical care.