Evaluation of a computerized drug interaction screening system

The effectiveness of a community hospital's computerized drug interaction screening system, PADIS (Pharmacy Automated Drug Interaction Screening), with pharmacists evaluating and advising physicians of each drug interaction's potential significance, was evaluated. The study was conducted during a 100-day period on all patients (34,564 patient days) with the exception of pediatric patients. The number and type of potential interactions, and physician response to the pharmacists' reports, were recorded. For the 182 physicians who participated in teh program, 1219 potential drug interactions were detected (per 20,260 patient days) that initially were considered important. Only 116 (9.5%) actually were deemed potentially clinically significant in th patient. The pharmacists eliminated 59 (51%) potential interactions directly by rescheduling administration times of the drugs. For the remaining potential drug interactions, reports were placed in the patient's charts for review by the attending physicians. Physicians altered therapy according to the recommendations in 82% of these cases. The program was effective in detecting and preventing potentially serious drug interactions.