Critical Care Pharmacists and Medication Management in an ICU Recovery Center

Many patients experience complications following critical illness; these are now widely referred to as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). An interprofessional intensive care unit (ICU) recovery center (ICU-RC), also known as a PICS clinic, is one potential approach to promoting patient and family recovery following critical illness.

To describe the role of an ICU-RC critical care pharmacist in identifying and treating medication-related problems among ICU survivors.

A prospective, observational cohort study was conducted of all outpatient appointments of a tertiary care hospital's ICU-RC between July 2012 and December 2015. The pharmacist completed a full medication review, including medication reconciliation, interview, counseling, and resultant interventions, during the ICU-RC appointment.

Data from all completed ICU-RC visits were analyzed (n = 62). A full medication review was performed in 56 (90%) of these patients by the pharmacist. The median number of pharmacy interventions per patient was 4 (interquartile range = 2, 5). All 56 patients had at least 1 pharmacy intervention; 22 (39%) patients had medication(s) stopped at the clinic appointment, and 18 (32%) patients had new medication(s) started. The pharmacist identified 9 (16%) patients who had an adverse drug event (ADE); 18 (32%) patients had ADE preventive measures instituted. An influenza vaccination was administered to 13 (23%) patients despite an inpatient protocol to ensure influenza vaccination prior to discharge. A pneumococcal vaccination was administered to 2 (4%) patients.

Use of a critical care pharmacist resulted in the identification and treatment of multiple medication-related problems in an ICU-RC as well as implementation of preventive measures.