| Sub-title | |
| Authors | L M Azzopardi A Serracino Inglott M Zarb Adami Petra Pace-Bonici-Mompalao |
| Abstract | The objectives were to cost pharmacist intervention in post-operative and rehabilitation care. A Pharmacist Intervention Sheet (PIS) was devised to document time taken by pharmacists in caring for individual patients hospitalised at Zammit Clapp Hospital. The PIS was established after carrying out observation sessions of the pharmacists interventions and after holding focus group discussions. Validity, applicability and practicality of the PIS were tested. Subsequently the self-reporting method was adopted where pharmacists were asked to follow and document all interventions carried out for individual patients from the time of hospitalization to the time of discharge. Patients followed were randomly selected as a convenience sample, taking two patients from each ward for a one-year period. A total of 75 PIS were collected. The mean average time of pharmacist intervention during hospitalization per patient was 6.2 minutes (1-423 minutes) costing 0.7 Euros (0.12 Euros-48 Euros). The mean average pharmacist intervention time decreased with increasing duration of hospital admission. Pharmacist interventions were: medication follow-up (23%), participation at ward rounds (17%), interactions with patient and carers (14%), patient case conference (11%), obtaining patients history (10%), drug preparation on discharge (10%), drug preparation on admission (8%), dispensing medication (4%). Medication follow-up refers to the time spent checking treatment charts for changes and undertaking the subsequent modification of patient unit-dose blister packs, follow-up of patient medical and drug history, identification of drug interactions and monitoring of drug therapy. Costings and identification of the pharmacists intervention in post-operative and rehabilitation care of older patients hospitalised at Zammit Clapp Hospital showed that the intervention of the pharmacist is contributing towards patient care within a teamwork approach. |
Published in: | |
| Journal | Malta Medical Journal |
| Volume | Volume 15 (suppl) |
| Pages | - |
| Date | |
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| Key words | Cost, pharmaceutical care, post-operative care, rehabilitation care |