Identifying Drug Therapy Problems Through Patient Consultation at Community Pharmacies

Abstract

Specific Aims: The objective of this quality improvement project is to evaluate if drug therapy problems in a community pharmacy setting can be identified via patient counseling at the time of prescription pick up. The central hypothesis of the project is that patient consultation will aid in identifying drug therapy problems and reduce the amount of negative effects posed by these problems. Methods: This project will assess data obtained through a medication therapy intervention report utilized in multiple community pharmacy environments in Arizona. Any consultation provided to a patient by a pharmacist or pharmacy intern regarding a new or transferred prescription will be eligible for data collection. The primary dependent variable is the number of drug therapy problems identified during consultation. Drug therapy problems will be assessed via expert opinion to identify the potential negative impact they may have posed to patients. Data analysis will involve the frequency and type of drug therapy problems identified during data collection. Main Results: A total of 1305 prescriptions were screened during the data collection period. A total of 29 drug therapy problems were identified upon patient consultation. This yielded a 2.2% drug therapy problem occurrence during data collection. The most commonly occurring drug therapy problem involved a patient drug allergy or sensitivity issue. Conclusion: Future research is warranted on the effects that drug therapy problems have on patients and the healthcare system. This project is descriptive in nature and may not be applicable to every community pharmacy in Arizona.