Implementation and effectiveness of pharmacist-led interviews at patient hospital admission in a rheumatology department

Abstract

Objectives: Medication reconciliation is time-consuming and its complete deployment can be difficult. The implementation of a simplified process, such as patient interviews at admission without full reconciliation, may contribute to improve patient care. The objective of the present study was to describe the feasibility and assess the potential effectiveness of implementing pharmacist-led interviews at patient admission to a rheumatology department.

Methods: This is a prospective observational study of pharmacist-led interviews at patient admission conducted between April 2015 and May 2017 in the 34-bed rheumatology department of Edouard Herriot Hospital, a French university hospital. These interviews were structured to explore patient medication management at home. The main outcome was the number of medication errors at admission. Other outcomes were the total number of interviews, the number of interviews with at least one new item of information provided by the patient, the number of interviews with at least one medication error detected, and the number of interviews leading to a modification of the hospital medication order.

Results: A total of 247 interviews were carried out; there was an increase in the number of interviews over the study period (n=54 in 2015, n=98 in 2016, and n=95 for the first 5 months of 2017). Among the interviews conducted, 135 (55%) provided new information concerning patient medication management and 117 medication errors were identified in hospital orders (0.47/patient). There were 76 interviews (31%) with at least one medication error; all led to a medication order modification.

Conclusions: The study found that pharmacist-led interviews at patient admission were effective in detecting medication errors. They could be an alternative to a full medication reconciliation process in targeted situations. When the patient interview does not provide sufficiently robust information, full medication reconciliation may be performed.

Keywords: drug misuse; hospital; medication systems; pharmacy service; rheumatology; safety.

Figure 1

Patient inclusion.

Figure 2

Number of pharmacist-led interviews at admission carried out during each period of the study. Students were assigned to the rheumatology department in October for a 1-year period. The different periods of the study were defined by the 4-month turnover of the students who conducted the interviews. October was mainly reserved for student training. The department was half-closed during August. Students were usually on vacation in July and August. *Students conducted a pilot study about pharmaceutical care in the department between 1 May and 31 August 2016.