Health Technology Assessment To Improve Patient Care Through Pharmaceutical Care: Clinical Pharmacist’s Perspective

Abstract

Drug Related Problems could result in the medication errors, adverse events, drug interactions and harm to patients. AIM: The main aim of the study was to assess and evaluate the Clinical Pharmacist’s interventions in health care i.e., HTA and its application to improve and optimize patient care through pharmaceutical care and to achieve accuracy in patient treatment. A prospective, observational and interventional study. Ethical approval was obtained before starting the present study. The inpatient medication charts and orders drug related problems were identified, analysed and rectified by ward and practicing clinical pharmacists within the inpatient pharmacy services, using the parameters: dose, rate of administration, presentation and/or dosage form, presence of inappropriate/unnecessary drugs, necessity of additional medication, more proper alternative therapies, presence of relevant drug interactions, inconsistencies in prescription orders, physical-chemical incompatibilities/solution stability. From this evaluation, the drug therapy problems were classified, resulting clinical interventions made. out of 360 clinical pharmacist interventions followed, male (71.66%) predominance was noted over females (28.33%). Most of the DRP observed were dispensing errors(26.11%),improper drug selection (17.22%),followed by untreated indications (14.4%) Majority of the clinical pharmacist recommendations were on need for proper dispensing(26.11%), and drug change (18.05%). The acceptance rate of intervening clinical pharmacist recommendation and change in drug therapy was found to be high (86.66%). Clinical pharmacists have greater potential in preventing and/or minimizing the DRPs. CONCLUSION: Technology assessment in health care is a multidisciplinary field of policy analysis which studies ethical, social, medical and economic implications of development, diffusion and use of health technology. From the multidisciplinary health technology assessment the methods followed for this study were found to be useful for not only enhancing the appropriate use of drugs in a clinical setting but also sow a seed for the evolvement of HTA in India with clinical pharmacist as its pathfinder.