Abstract
In July 1996, the Pharmacy Department of the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, Israel, initiated a prospective study aimed at justifying and evaluating the drug information service provided by the pharmacy team to the medical staff. The information is provided via telephone, with written consultations or bibliographies provided on request. All telephone queries and responses are computer recorded, so that the responses to requests can be evaluated. A standard form was prepared to evaluate this service. A total of 293 consultations took place during a one‐year period, yielding 528 different questions. The questions were received from different departments, including internal diseases (32.4%), surgery (31.2%), pediatrics (16.7%), obstetrics (10.9%), and psychiatry, oncology and hematology (together 6.8%). The pharmacy team provided this service to physicians and surgeons(51.2%), nurses (41.9%), and other medical professionals (6.9%). The types of drugs most frequently inquired about were anti‐infectives, antihypertensives,TPN & infusion preparations and anticoagulant drugs. Requested data included information regarding administration/dosage (34.1%), indications (14.6%), and interactions (13.9%), with very few questions about the availability of products (4.7%), equivalency (2.1%) and cost (1.5%). The time devoted to this service justified an additional quarter‐time employee. This study proved to be a quality assurance tool in the assessment of the educational and functional requirements of the hospital's medical health team.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Reilly MJ. Harvey A.K. Whitney Lecture. Old dreams, young hopes. Am J Hosp Pharm 1984;41:1529-35.
Skoutakis VA, Wojciechowski NJ, Carter CA, Hayes JM, Hudson BL, Martin JA. Drug Information Center Network: need, effectiveness and cost justification. Drug Intell Clin Pharm 1987;21:49-56.
Baker RP, Gallo GR. Drug information services: how health care professionals use the information provided. J Clin Hosp Pharm 1984;9:133-8.
Folath F, Mayer C, Grimm E. Die computergestutzte Arzeinmittelinformation. Schweiz Med Wochenschr 1990;120:1845-8.
Williams DM. 'Ask your pharmacist' consumer phone in program in North Carolina. Am J Hosp Pharm 1987;44:1631-2.
Hancock DL, Chipley MM. Use of medication orders for monitoring, prescribing and documenting consultations. Am J Hosp Pharm 1992;49:2215-7.
Ette EI, Achumba JI, Brown-Awala EA. Determination of the dug information needs of the medical saff of a Nigerian hospital following implementation of clinical pharmacy services. Drug Intell Clin Pharm 1987;21:748-51.
Morrow NC, D'Archy PF, Pielou LW. Drug information inquiries-who asked and where are the answers? J Clin Hosp Pharm 1984;9:321-31.
Mailhot C, Giacona Dahl NS. Drug information servies in Quebec: determination of community and hospital pharmacists' needs. Drug Intell Clin Pharm 1987;21:57-63.
Woodward CT, Stevenson JG, Porenba A. Assessing the quality of pharmacist answers to telephone drug information questions. Am J Hosp Pharm 1990;47:798-9.
A.S.H.P. Guidelines on the provision of Medication information by Pharmacists. Am J Health-Syst Pharm 1996;53: 1843-5.
Galt KA. Analysing and recording a drug information request. Clinical skills program, Module 1-Drug Information. American Society of Hospital Pharmacists 1994.
Smith GH, Norton LL and Ferrill MJ Evaluating Drug Literature. Clinical Skills Program, Module 2-Drug Information. American Society of Hospital Pharmacists 1995.
Galt KA, Calis KA and Turcasso NM. Preparing a drug information Response, Module 3-Drug Information. American Society of Hospital Pharmacists 1995.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lustig, M.A. Experience with a recently introduced drug information service in an Israeli hospital pharmacy. Pharm World Sci 21, 32–34 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008686524653
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008686524653