DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL CARE SERVICES TO THE PATIENTS OF RESPIRATORY MEDICINE AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

BACKGROUND:

Clinical Pharmacy is in its infancy in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the concept of Pharmaceutical Care is completely new to most of the physicians, nurses and even pharmacists presently working in our government health facilities. Present study being the first of its kind in the state will pave way for more advanced, systematic and coordinated pharmaceutical care services in future.

OBJECTIVES: 

To assess the design and implementation of a pharmaceutical care model for respiratory medicine patients  focusing on identification, resolution and prevention of drug related problems and optimization of therapy outcomes.

STUDY DESIGN: 

Prospective, interventional, cohort study.

SETTING:

Medication review in all respiratory medicine patients.

STUDY POPULATION: 

A total of 182 patients of all age groups, of which 121 (66.48%) were males and 61 (33.51%) were females, with respiratory disorders admitted to the Internal and Pulmonary Medicine ward of a tertiary care hospital over a period of six months.

METHODS:

Medication use data was collected and reviewed by the pharmacy practitioner. Drug-related needs and problems of patients were assessed. Pharmaceutical care plans were formulated and medication interventions proposed.

OUTCOME MEASURES:

Pharmaceutical care services, Drug-related problems, interventions, therapy outcomes

RESULTS:

A total of 388 Drug Therapy Related Problems/ Pharmaceutical Care issues with an average of 2.29 DRPs per patient were identified and a total of 233 interventions were made, besides imparting patient education and counselling to 177 patients. Pharmaceutical Care Services offered to the study patients proved beneficial in terms of better patient compliance, their improved health-related quality of life, optimized therapeutic outcomes.

CONCLUSION:

Design, implementation and evaluation of pharmaceutical services has proved to be fruitful in all respects among the study patients. There is need to replicate this model to all other wards of the tertiary care hospital for the benefit of patients.