Pharmacy-based investigational drug services: a national survey

At the end of the survey, respondents were asked whether their departments planned to make changes affecting the IDS within the next one to two years. Fifty-nine percent had made plans, and most of these plans included an expansion or streamlining of investigational services. Thirty-five percent planned to increase the scope of services offered, or extend present services to cover areas previously not reached, such as a specific medical service, or an outpatient clinic. More than 39 percent planned to begin using computers in the operation of the IDS, or expand their present use of computers. Twenty-six percent planned to increase staffing in some way; these plans included designating a staff pharmacist to handle study drugs and budgeting a few hours per week, hiring a pharmacist, nurse, technician, or student, or adding clerical help. Five institutions (less than 2%) planned to scale back services; this was due to budgetary cuts in three hospitals and one hospital closure, but in one case, plans were to limit enrollment of new patients to hours when a pharmacist is available. Clearly, many factors are involved in the operation of an IDS. The information obtained from this survey is by no means a complete list of the services that may be provided; however, the information and ideas gathered from this survey were useful in planning for service expansion at St. John's Hospital. It is hoped that this information might be useful to other pharmacists and pharmacy administrators as well.