Using personal digital assistants to document pharmacist cognitive services and estimate potential reimbursement

The use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) to document pharmacist cognitive services and estimate potential reimbursement was studied. Between September 2001 and February 2002, four pharmacy residents and four clinical pharmacists used PDAs for documenting cognitive services. Interventions recorded on paper during the same six-month period one year earlier were reviewed for comparison. Potential reimbursement for these services was calculated by linking current procedural terminology codes and charges to the electronically documented services. Over the six-month study period, pharmacists recorded 7319 interventions with PDAs, compared with 5028 documented on paper during the earlier six-month period. Potential claims for pharmacists' cognitive services documented with PDAs amounted to more than $1 million in the six months, assuming a 100% reimbursement rate. PDAs provide a simple, efficient paperless system for documenting pharmacists' clinical services and generating reimbursement claims.