Having a practice pharmacist can reduce prescribing costs

Controlled trial of pharmacist intervention in general practice: the effect on prescribing costs.

BACKGROUND It has been suggested that the employment of pharmacists in general practice might moderate the growth in prescribing costs. However, empirical evidence for this proposition has been lacking. We report the results of a controlled trial of pharmacist intervention in United Kingdom general practice. AIM To determine whether intervention practices made savings relative to controls. ...

Pharmacist-led medication reviews can reduce patient morbidity?

A novel, pharmacist-led strategy to reduce the prescribing of benzodiazepines in Paisley

Results 96 patients had their prescription inactivated because it had not been requested for 3 months. 206 (56%) patients were invited for review and 151 attended and collected their stepdown regimen. 24 patients receiving a stepdown regimen were restarted on their original (or a lower) dose. Overall 85 (23%) of 369 patients remained on repeat prescription at end of project. Number of benzodiaz...

Independent pharmacist prescribing in Canada.

BACKGROUND While pharmacists are trained in the selection and management of prescription medicines, traditionally their role in prescribing has been limited. In the past 5 years, many provinces have expanded the pharmacy scope of practice. However, there has been no previous systematic investigation and comparison of these policies. METHODS We performed a comprehensive policy review and compa...

Valuing the extended role of prescribing pharmacist in general practice: results from a discrete choice experiment.

OBJECTIVES To quantify patients' preferences for new pharmacist independent prescribing services in general practice for managing common existing long-term conditions compared with usual medical prescribing. METHODS A discrete choice experiment cross-sectional survey was conducted in five general practices in England (October-November 2009). Four service attributes reported on the length of c...