Effect of a training program on community pharmacists' detection of and intervention in drug-related problems.

OBJECTIVE

To develop and present a pharmaceutical care training program for pharmacists, and to examine the ability of these pharmacists to provide pharmaceutical care in a community pharmacy setting.

DESIGN

Prospective, randomized study.

INTERVENTION

A 40-hour pharmaceutical care training program was developed and presented to pharmacists, and 1,078 patients were randomly assigned to receive either (1) traditional pharmacy services or (2) pharmaceutical care, consisting of initial patient work-up and follow-up with documentation in a patient record.

MEASUREMENTS

The study period was six months. Pharmacists documented problems identified, actions taken, and time required for all patients.

RESULTS

Pharmacists consistently identified and intervened to address problems in both study groups. Patients receiving pharmaceutical care were more than seven times as likely to have any problems identified (odds ratio [OR] 7.5; confidence interval [CI] 4.2-13.1), more than eight times as likely to have an intervention performed (OR, 8.1; CI 4.7-14.2), and more than eight times as likely to have a drug-related problem identified (OR 8.6; CI 4.8-15.5) than were patients receiving traditional pharmacy services only. Time spent counseling patients was similar for the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The training program proved to be an effective way to increase the number of problems identified and addressed by pharmacists.