Documentation of pharmaceutical care: Validation of an intervention oriented classification system

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Practice
• Medication Safety
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Pharmacists encounter technical and clinical issues during dispensing, necessitating pharmaceutical interventions (PIs).
• A structured classification system is crucial for documenting these PIs effectively.
• The PharmDISC (Pharmacists' Documentation of Interventions in Seamless Care) system was developed for this purpose.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the PharmDISC system's performance in daily community pharmacy practice.
• To assess interrater reliability, appropriateness, interpretability, acceptability, feasibility, and validity of PharmDISC.
• To gauge user satisfaction and explore implementation aspects.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-one pharmacists classified 30 prescriptions requiring PIs using PharmDISC over 5 weeks.
• Interrater reliability was measured using Fleiss's kappa coefficients (κ).
• User satisfaction was assessed via a 4-point Likert scale questionnaire.

Main Results:

• PharmDISC achieved substantial interrater reliability (κ = 0.66).
• 82.9% of documented PIs (430/519) were completely classified.
• Users found the system comprehensive and practical, increasing awareness of drug-related problems.

Conclusions:

• The PharmDISC system demonstrates substantial interrater reliability and acceptable user satisfaction.
• It is a valid tool for documenting pharmaceutical interventions in community pharmacy settings.
• Implementation could be enhanced with an electronic version and task manager.