Team-based approach to addressing simvastatin safety concerns.

Area of Science:

• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Clinical Pharmacy
• Medication Safety

Background:

• Simvastatin safety concerns necessitated updated guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
• Outpatient clinics require systematic approaches to implement complex medication safety alerts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the acceptance of pharmacist-led interventions for simvastatin safety.
• To assess the resources required for implementing medication safety alerts.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective review of 158 patients treated outside revised simvastatin labeling.
• Pharmacist recommendations were made via electronic medical record to providers.
• Interventions focused on FDA guidelines and optimizing lipid-lowering therapy.

Main Results:

• Pharmacist recommendations were accepted 92% without modification and 7% with modification.
• Total pharmacist intervention time was 21.5 hours; technician time was 3.9 hours for patient contact.

Conclusions:

• Targeted pharmacist interventions successfully promoted adherence to simvastatin safety guidelines.
• A standardized, evidence-based approach led to high prescriber acceptance of recommendations.