Prevalence and satisfaction of discharged patients who recall interacting with a pharmacist during a hospital stay.

BACKGROUND To enhance the quality of patient care, the former Calgary Health Region (now part of Alberta Health Services) works continuously to improve pharmacy clinical services and to plan and implement new programs and services. Patient satisfaction is an important indicator of patients' perception of the value of services provided. OBJECTIVES To determine the baseline prevalence of patients admitted to the former Calgary Health Region with complex and high-risk medication needs who recalled speaking to a pharmacist during their hospital stay and their reported satisfaction with those interactions. METHODS A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted by means of a telephone survey of patients shortly after discharge. Patients were asked whether they recalled speaking with a pharmacist during their last stay in the hospital. Patients who recalled such interactions were asked to rate pharmacy services on a 5-point scale. RESULTS Of 1200 patients who were discharged from hospital in June 2007 and who were contacted by telephone 2 months later, 400 patients agreed to participate in the survey; 3 of these patients were subsequently excluded. Of the 397 respondents included in the analysis, 83 (20.9%) recalled speaking to a pharmacist. Most of these rated the interaction favourably, with an average satisfaction rating of 4.4 out of 5. CONCLUSIONS The Pharmacy Department of the former Calgary Health Region now has baseline frequency and satisfaction data for this indicator of service value, which can be used as comparators for future assessments of service value.