Documentation of drug related problems and their management in community pharmacy: Data evolution over six years

Abstract

BackgroundDocumentation of pharmacists’ activities, such as drug related problems (DRPs) management, is necessary to estimate fair remuneration but is rarely done in community pharmacies. ObjectiveTo document and evaluate the evolution of DRPs prevalence and management over six years. MethodsObservational study carried out since 2016 in a community pharmacy. Documentation was made yearly for 21 days (depending on seasons, holidays and medical internship rotations) using the ClinPhADoc tool. Pharmacists documented: medication, DRP type, intervention, implied partner and time for DRP management. A subanalysis was made depending on the medical rotation. ResultsA total of 171 437 prescriptions were received and 6 844 (4.0%) documented with 1 550 DRPs. Most frequent DRPs were procedural (n = 506, 32.6%), dosage/posology (n = 263, 17.0%) and drug-drug interaction (n = 153, 9.9%). Mean time dedicated to DRP management was 6.9 min, the longest time was for clinical DRPs (11.0 min, SD = 6.6). Most DRPs (n = 726, 44.6%) were managed by the pharmacist alone taking less working time than when involving other stakeholders (p < 0.01). Statistically significant differences were found in DRPs between the beginning and end of medical rotation (p < 0.05). ConclusionsDocumentation of DRP management allowed consistent results over the years. Patterns of DRPs can be used to develop inter-professional interventions to prevent DRPs.