The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 278 No 7456 p698
16 June 2007

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Surgical pre-admission clinic benefits from pharmacist

Using a pharmacist to conduct medication histories in a surgical pre-admission clinic can reduce the number of medication discrepancies on the postoperative prescription chart, a Canadian study shows (Archives of Internal Medicine 2007;167:1034).

The study compared a pharmacist conducting medication histories and filling in a postoperative medication order form with nurse-conducted medication histories documented on electronic records. Of the patients receiving the pharmacist-led service 41 (20.3 per cent) experienced one or more medication discrepancies relating to home medicines.

This compared with 86 patients (40.2 per cent) receiving the nurse-led service. Although the results highlighted a reduction in potential to cause harm by medication discrepancies, they did not show that the pharmacist-led service reduced the length of stay in hospital.