The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7241 p392
22 March 2003

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Medicines management services save money and improve patient care

Medicines management and patient concordance services delivered by community pharmacists can save money and improve patient care, according to new research from Australia.

Offering a medicines management service reduced drug-related side effects by 3.6 per cent, improved patients' symptoms by 16.6 per cent and improved compliance by 13.7 per cent. After subtracting costs of the pharmacists, the service saved A$67.85 (£25.60) a year per patient. As part of the service, pharmacists identified medication issues, provided information on these to patients and their general practitioners, and helped patients manage their medication. In total, 138 patients were referred to a trained pharmacist as part of the trial.

The patient concordance service improved patients' knowledge of the medicines they were taking and the diseases for which they were being treated. A reduction in medicines-related side effects, down from 17.6 to 2.7 per cent (P<0.034), was seen. Thirty assessments were carried out. Pharmacists talked to patients either in their own homes or at a local hospital. They discussed health beliefs and levels of understanding of current medications and assessed compliance levels.

Analysing the two services, Professor Charlie Benrimoj, dean of the faculty of pharmacy, University of Sydney, and colleagues from the university and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, say that further savings might be achieved if reductions in visits to GPs or hospitals were taken into consideration. The main barriers to providing the service were those of pharmacists' time and, in rural areas, the distances between patients and hospitals or clinics. Documentation was also an issue although the authors say that this appeared to be related to the needs of the trial rather than the clinical service itself (Journal of Social and Administrative Pharmacy 2003;20:2).