Perceived clinical significance of consultant pharmacist recommendations in the skilled nursing facility.

In an attempt to determine if pharmacists could make significant contributions to SNF patient care in the area of disease management, the drug therapy of the residents of two SNFs was reviewed once monthly for six months by two clinical pharmacist consultants. Pharmacist-identified problems and recommendations were communicated in writing to the medical staff by means of a communication form attached to the patient's chart. Nearly 72 percent of the recommendations made were accepted by the SNF physicians. Descriptions of the cases and corresponding recommendations were distributed to review-panel physicians. These physicians were asked to agree or disagree with the pharmacists' suggestions, and to rate the clinical significance of each recommendation using a modified Likert scale. The clinical pharmacist-consultants were perceived to have had a significant input into disease management in SNF patients.