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. 2022 Dec 12;10(6):173.
doi: 10.3390/pharmacy10060173.

The Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Pharmacist-Managed Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) Service for Vancomycin-A Pilot Study

Paul Firman  1 , Ken-Soon Tan  2   3 , Alexandra Clavarino  4 , Meng-Wong Taing  1 , Sally Dixon  5 , Helender Singh  5 , Karen Whitfield  1
Affiliations

The Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Pharmacist-Managed Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) Service for Vancomycin-A Pilot Study

Paul Firman et al. Pharmacy (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: In recent years, pharmacists in Australia have been able to expand their scope to include the provision of a range of services. Although evidence has demonstrated the benefits of pharmacist-managed TDM services, recent studies have shown that these services are not prominent within Australia and that the current TDM workflow may not be optimal.

Methods: An interventional pilot study was conducted of a pharmacist-managed TDM program for vancomycin at a tertiary hospital in Australia.

Results: In total, 15 pharmacists participated in the program. They performed 50.5% of the medication-related pathology over the intervention period. Pharmacist involvement in the TDM process was more likely to lead to appropriate TDM sample collection (OR 87.1; 95% CI = 11.5, 661.1) and to an appropriate dose adjustment (OR 19.1; 95% CI = 1.7, 213.5). Pharmacists demonstrated increased confidence after the education and credentialling package was provided.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that a credentialling package for pharmacists can improve knowledge, skills, and confidence around the provision of pharmacist-managed TDM services for vancomycin. This may lead to the evolution of different roles and workflows enabling pharmacists to contribute more efficiently to improving medication safety and use.

Keywords: clinical pharmacy; expanded scope pharmacist; therapeutic drug monitoring; vancomycin.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Figure 1
Patient Selection.
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