Impact of medication profile review on prescribing in a general medicine clinic

The effect of medication profile review by a clinical pharmacist on prescribing in a general medicine clinic was studied. Patients who were receiving five or more prescription or nonprescription medications were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 315) or a control group (n = 257). A clinical pharmacist reviewed the medication profile of each intervention group patient on the day before the patient's clinic visit and attached a written profile review to the medical record for study by the physician during the visit. After each clinic day, the pharmacist obtained updated records of patients in both groups and collected data on the number and cost of medications ordered before and after the visits. After the clinic visits, the average number of medications and the average monthly medication cost per patient decreased by 0.21 and $0.60, respectively, for the intervention group, compared with increases of 0.48 and $3.31 for the control group. The net result of a single profile review was a decrease of 0.69 prescription per patient, for a monthly medication cost savings of $3.91. The number and cost of medications that were discontinued were significantly higher in the intervention group. The intervention group also had significantly fewer drugs added for previously documented medical problems. Medication profile review by a clinical pharmacist reduced both the number and cost of drugs for patients receiving five or more medications.