Acceptance of pharmacists' suggestions by prescribers: a literature review

Abstract

Acceptance of pharmacists' suggestions by prescribers is a necessary component of the evaluation of clinical pharmacy services that is often overlooked. A literature search was performed to review the information on this topic. Acceptance was defined as a measure of a prescriber's compliance with a pharmacist's recommendation regarding drug therapy. In order for the pharmacist to impact upon the quality of patient care or drug costs, the prescriber must accept the suggestions. A total of 23 studies was found that addressed the topic. The average rate of acceptance was 85.5%. Factors affecting acceptance included time, communication, solicited versus unsolicited recommendations, type of prescriber, and type of pharmacist. Factors leading to non-acceptance included lack of physician awareness of pharmacokinetic parameters, quality of suggestions, prescribers' exercise of caution with respect to patient safety and well-being, and negative attitude toward clinical pharmacy. More research needs to be done in order to evaluate the importance of these factors.