OBJECTIVE To determine if hospital-based clinical pharmacy services and pharmacy staffing continue to be associated with mortality rates. METHODS A database was constructed from 1998 MedPAR, American Hospital Association's Annual Survey of Hospitals, and National Clinical Pharmacy Services databases, consisting of data from 2,836,991 patients in 885 hospitals. Data from hospitals that had 14 ...

Background Anticoagulant therapies provide management options for potentially life-threatening thromboembolic conditions. They also carry significant safety risks, requiring careful consideration of medication dose, close monitoring, and follow-up. Inpatients are particularly at risk, considering the widespread use of anticoagulants in hospitals. This has prompted the introduction of safety goa...

BACKGROUND Substantial complexity has been introduced into treatment regimens for patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Many drug-related problems (DRPs) are detected in these patients, such as low adherence, therapeutic inefficacy, and safety issues. We evaluated the impact of pharmacist interventions on CD4+ T-lymphocyte count, HIV viral load, and DRPs in patients with H...

BACKGROUND Non-adherence to antidepressants generates higher costs for the treatment of depression. Little is known about the cost-effectiveness of pharmacist's interventions aimed at improving adherence to antidepressants. The study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a community pharmacist intervention in comparison with usual care in depressed patients initiating treatment with antid...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the impact and cost-benefit value of pharmacist interventions for prophylactic antibiotic use in surgical patients undergoing clean or clean-contaminated operations. METHODS A pre-to-post intervention study was performed in the Department of Urological Surgery of a tertiary hospital. Patients admitted from January through June 2011, undergoing clean or clean-contaminate...

this study was performed to assess the incidence of medication errors and irrational use of human albumin in two wards of our hospital and also aimed to evaluate the ability of pharmaceutical care center and pharmacists in improving patient care. albumin administration was evaluated for patients who received albumin during the study period, in gastroenterology and general surgery wards. the ind...

OBJECTIVE This systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assesses the effect of pharmacist care on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among outpatients with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched. Pharmacist interventions were classified, and a meta-analysis of ...

BACKGROUND Medication errors and adverse drug events are common after hospital discharge due to changes in medication regimens, suboptimal discharge instructions, and prolonged time to follow-up. Pharmacist-based interventions may be effective in promoting the safe and effective use of medications, especially among high-risk patients such as those with low health literacy. METHODS AND RESULTS...

Purpose Because of the complexity of the care that pharmacists provide patients, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) advocates that patients have 24-hour access to the pharmacist responsible for their care, and that the pharmacist be physically accessible to the patient when feasible. ASHP recognizes that such access is not always possible and encourages the development of ...

BACKGROUND Measurement of albuminuria to stratify risk in chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not done universally in the primary care setting despite recommendation in KDIGO (Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes) guidelines. Pharmacist medication therapy management (MTM) may be helpful in improving CKD risk stratification and management. METHODS We conducted a pragmatic, cluster-randomized t...