Pharmaceutical services in U.S. hospitals in 1989

The results of a spring 1989 national survey of hospital-based pharmacy services are reported. The study group (n = 2112) comprised half of U.S. acute-care general surgical or medical hospitals with 50 or more licensed beds. Pharmacy directors were asked about their hospital's provision of 14 clinical pharmacy services. The survey had a response rate of 56% (1174 usable responses). Provision levels varied significantly with the pharmacy drug delivery system for 14 services, pharmacy director's education for 12 services, hospital teaching affiliation for 12 services, hospital ownership for 9 services, hospital size for 9 services, and geographic region for 5 services. The following percentages of respondents offered specific services: drug-use evaluation, 90%; inservice education, 66%; adverse drug reaction (ADR) management, 46%; drug therapy monitoring, 41%; pharmacokinetic consultations, 40%; parenteral-enteral nutrition team participation, 28%; patient medication counseling, 26%; drug therapy protocol management, 25%; cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) team participation, 25%; clinical research, 22%; drug information, 16%; participation in medical rounds, 13%; poison information, 9%; and medication histories, 2%. Pharmacist staffing requirements for clinical services usually centralized within the department were highest for drug information and poison information. Within hospitals offering the services, four of nine patient-specific services were potentially available to more than half the patients: ADR management, CPR team participation, drug therapy monitoring, and nutrition team participation. Drug therapy protocol management required the most pharmacist staff time. Only one service, pharmacokinetic consultations, was justified by more than half of the providers of that service. Respondents expected all the services to undergo net growth during 1989-90. The 1989 National Clinical Pharmacy Services Survey showed that provision of clinical pharmacy services varied with the pharmacy drug delivery system, pharmacy director's education, hospital teaching affiliation, hospital ownership, hospital size, and geographic region.