Pharmacy-coordinated process for evaluating physician drug prescribing.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Practice
• Quality Assurance
• Medical Staff Credentialing

Background:

• Inappropriate drug prescribing is a significant concern in healthcare.
• Objective evaluation of prescribing practices is crucial for quality assurance and physician credentialing.
• Pharmacist intervention programs can identify and address medication-related problems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a pharmacy-coordinated process for evaluating drug prescribing quality.
• To integrate this evaluation into the medical staff quality assurance and physician credentialing programs.
• To demonstrate the pharmacy department's active role in patient care.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a pharmacist intervention program to review medication orders for appropriateness.
• Conducted a "macro" review using a computerized system to extract drug-use data from patient bills.
• Performed a "micro" review involving retrospective analysis of patient records by clinical pharmacy specialists.
• Calculated "appropriate response scores" to quantify prescribing quality.

Main Results:

• Over a five-year period, more than 6500 drug therapy interventions were made.
• A systematic process for objectively evaluating prescribing practices was developed and implemented.
• The pharmacy department actively participated in patient care by assessing prescribing quality.

Conclusions:

• Pharmacy departments can play a vital role in medical staff quality assurance and physician credentialing.
• Objective evaluation of prescribing practices enhances medication safety and patient care.
• A structured, pharmacist-led approach to reviewing drug prescribing is effective.