Clinical Pharmacy Medication Chart Review – a Virtual Experience
Hunter New England Area Health Service
This project was entered in the 2007 NSW Health Awards, Smart Choices about the Costs and Benefits of Health Services category.
Contact: Tonia Easton
Abstract
During 2006 Tenterfield Community Hospital experienced a significant number of incidents related to adverse effects of prescribed drug therapy. Recommendations following a root cause analysis (RCA) following the death of patient following a fall indicated the need for some form of clinical pharmacy service to be made available. A novel solution utilising a high-speed broadband connection enables a clinical pharmacist to review the medication charts of selected patients while located at Tamworth Hospital, some 4 hours by road away. During the eight-month study period, 75 patients have had their medications reviewed with 7% having had a change made to their therapy as a result. There have been no Severity Assessment Code (SAC) 1 or 2 incidents involving medications reported with the number of SAC 3 and 4 incidents reported reduced. There has been a contributing (though not statistically significant at this point) reduction in patients Length of Stay and fewer readmissions.
The full entry document can be downloaded in the formats listed below:
Clinical Pharmacy Medication Chart Review – a Virtual Experience (222KB)
Clinical Pharmacy Medication Chart Review – a Virtual Experience (212KB)
Download the Presentation (173K) from the 2007 NSW Health Expo
