Using xPIRT to Record Pharmacy Interventions: An Observational, Cross-Sectional and Retrospective Study

Area of Science:

• Clinical Pharmacy
• Patient Safety
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Medication errors and omissions pose significant risks to patient health, including prolonged hospital stays and increased mortality.
• Pharmacy interventions (PI) are vital for identifying and rectifying these errors, enhancing patient safety and improving prescribing practices.
• In community hospitals with general practitioners, PI plays a particularly strategic role in ensuring medication safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To retrospectively analyze pharmacy interventions recorded over eight months in community hospital wards.
• To identify significant prescribing errors and assess the impact of PI in a community hospital setting using the xPIRT toolkit.
• To evaluate the role of pharmacy teams in improving patient safety and achieving cost savings.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of pharmacy interventions recorded between November 2021 and June 2022.
• Data collected using the Pharmacy Intervention Recording Tool (xPIRT) in community hospital wards in Powys, Wales.
• Data organized by location, drug, severity, acceptance, cost avoidance, and intervention type.

Main Results:

• Significant prescribing errors were identified, potentially differing from those in acute care settings.
• The study highlighted the value of pharmacy teams in detecting and resolving medication inaccuracies.
• Analysis indicated potential for significant cost savings through PI.

Conclusions:

• Pharmacy interventions are essential for enhancing patient safety and care in community hospitals.
• The use of the xPIRT tool facilitated the identification of prescribing errors and demonstrated cost-saving potential.
• Integrated electronic prescribing systems coupled with PI recording tools are recommended to address prescribing inaccuracies effectively.